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Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Biodiverse Landscapes Fund
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The UK’s £100 million Biodiverse Landscapes Fund (BLF) aims to reduce poverty, protect and restore biodiversity and lessen the impact of climate change in six environmentally critical landscapes across the globe. These are: - The Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area, covering areas of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. - Mesoamerica, covering areas of Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. - Western Congo Basin, covering areas of Cameroon, Gabon and Republic of Congo. - Andes Amazon, covering areas of Ecuador and Peru. - Lower Mekong, covering areas of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. - Madagascar. The BLF has 3 core aims: - people: to develop economic opportunities through investment in nature in support of climate adaptation and resilience and poverty reduction. - nature: to slow, halt or reverse biodiversity loss in globally significant regions for biodiversity. - climate: to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and safeguard natural carbon sinks. It will meet these aims by: - reducing poverty and creating sustainable economic development for communities living in, and dependent upon, environmentally precious landscapes. - protecting and restoring ecosystems and biologically diverse landscapes helping to mitigate climate change by preserving carbon sinks and ecosystems. - addressing the causes of environmental degradation. - supporting national and local governments, park authorities and communities to achieve long-term sustainable management and use of natural resources Funding will be distributed across the landscapes according to demands and needs.
Annual contribution to the United Nations Environment Trust Fund of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
This activity supports an annual UK contribution to the IPBES. IPBES is a science-policy platform providing comprehensive, credible and legitimate scientific knowledge about Earth’s essential life support systems and their contribution to human well-being; as well as tools and local capacity to help decision makers around the world identify solutions to pressures on ecosystems, sustainable use of natural resources and related poverty. Contributions to the IPBES Trust Fund are used to meet the running costs and support developing country expert engagement in delivering the work programme agreed by member governments at the Plenary meetings.
International Climate Finance R&D Programme
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
This International Climate Finance (ICF) funded programme will deliver an integrated package of projects to strengthen global knowledge and understanding of the interrelationship between the climate and biodiversity challenges. It will seek to inform the work of policy developers and development practitioners globally and help narrow the funding gap between current and required investment in natural solutions to climate change. It recognises that the scaling, and effectiveness, of natural solutions to the triple challenge of climate change, poverty and biodiversity loss (hereafter referred to as ‘natural solutions’) requires an investment in the primary evidence base needed to inform effective decisions, and drive innovation in the future. The proposed package of work is designed to meet both short and longer-term evidence needs, including to deliver a UNFCCC and CBD legacy, focusing on ensuring strategic, policy-relevant results and a global network of knowledge exchange and learning. As part of this programme, the UK committed £40m to establish the Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate (GCBC). The GCBC is funded by the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) with International Climate Finance, working in partnership with DAI Global as the Management Lead and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as the Strategic Science Lead. Through a series of research grant calls the GCBC will support GBF Targets 8,11 & 14 by establishing a global network of research institutions and experts to address critical research gaps in how the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity can address climate solutions and improve livelihoods. The GCBC was announced at COP26 with £40m of UK International Development funding. It contributes to the UK Government’s commitment to spend £3bn of its £11.6bn of International Climate Finance on nature and biodiversity over the 5 years to March 2026. The GCBC aims to support developing countries to shape decision-making and develop policies that better value, protect, restore and sustainably manage biodiversity in ways that tackle resilience to climate change and poverty. For more information, please visit www.gcbc.org.uk
Ocean Country Partnership Programme
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The Ocean Country Partnership Programme (OCPP) supports countries to manage the marine environment more sustainably, including by strengthening marine science expertise, developing science-based policy and management tools and creating educational resources for coastal communities. The programme is funded through official development assistance (ODA) as part of the UK’s £500 million Blue Planet Fund. Through the OCPP, the UK government partners with ODA-eligible countries to deliver positive impacts for coastal communities that depend on healthy marine ecosystems. Bilateral partnerships under the OCPP are primarily delivered by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), agencies of the UK government that possess unique expertise in marine science and management. The OCPP also funds two international initiatives that align with its aims and help to develop global public goods, the Global Ocean Accounts Partnership (GOAP) and the Friends of Ocean Action (FOA). GOAP is a global, multi-stakeholder partnership established to enable countries and other stakeholders to effectively measure and manage progress towards sustainable ocean development. FOA is a platform hosted by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with the World Resources Institute, which brings together ocean leaders from a wide range of sectors to encourage action and investment into sustainable ocean projects. GOAP and FOA are both strategic partners of the OCPP, and are funded by the Blue Planet Fund (BPF). They do however remain independent organisations from OCPP, BPF, and Defra. Their work, and its intended outcomes and impacts, are strategically aligned with the OCPP and complement its programming in bilateral partnerships. GOAP and FOA were originally developed as separate business cases under the BPF, then in 2022 introduced as integrated components under OCPP to provide a clearer overall BPF offer to recipient countries. The investment to GOAP supports ODA-eligible countries to develop 'ocean accounts' to more accurately and comprehensively capture data on the natural capital assets contained within their oceans. Using this data - and through further technical, advisory, and capacity building support - GOAP aims to ensure that biodiversity is valued and integrated into policy making, decision making, and infrastructure investments in these countries, resulting in the inclusive and sustainable use and management of the ocean. An initial investment of £1million was awarded to GOAP in FY 2021/2. Following good performance in year one, a further £6million of investment was awarded, split evenly over FY's 2022/3, 23/4, and 24/5; giving a total of £7million. From December 2023, following evidence of strong value for money, this investment has since been uplifted to a total of £14.2million, involving new and expanded scope for certain activities, as well as extending the strategic partnership into FY 2025/6. FOA is a multi-stakeholder platform hosted by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with the World Resources Institute, which brings together ocean leaders from a wide range of sectors to encourage action and investment into sustainable ocean projects. FOA, working closely with the High Level Panel for Sustainable Ocean Economy, aims to mobilise ocean leaders to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water. Through OCPP the investment supports pillars of FOA's work that strategically align with OCPP's own outcomes. There was an initial investment of £1million to FOA in FY 2021/2. After FOA performed well against investment and performance criteria in year one, a further investment of £2million was awarded in both FY's 2022/3 and 2023/4; rounding total investment for FOA to £5million.
UK contribution to the World Bank Group PROBLUE Programme to facilitate sustainable finance for healthy oceans
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
PROBLUE is the World Bank’s leading multilateral mechanism for leveraging and disbursing blue finance towards sustainable ocean sectors and activities. It is a multi-donor trust fund that supports the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14, Life Below Water, and the Bank’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. PROBLUE aims to do this by reducing the existing blue finance gap by creating the necessary enabling environment for public and private sectors to shift from unsustainable to sustainable activities.
Establishing and enhancing veterinary surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and use in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
This project aims to help establish effective surveillance for longer term capacity building for AMR in the terrestrial and aquatic veterinary sectors in selected LMICs, and to enhance veterinary medicines regulatory training.
Achieving sustainable forest management through community managed protected areas in Madagascar
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
This project aims to reduce deforestation and forest degradation within Madagascar’s national park network by supporting community and regional authorities to manage and monitor natural resources more effectively. It also seeks to transform the way in which communities use the forest by investing in sustainable farming practices and alternative livelihoods. By demonstrating proof of concept for community-based forest management, this project seeks to help communities to attract new investment and access market-based opportunities that guarantee the long-term financial sustainability of the protected area network. In this way, the project aims to create a successful model that could be replicated across the protected area network.
The Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes (ISFL) - Bio Carbon Fund
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
A multilateral project administered by the World Bank which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the land use sector through sustainable landscape management, whilst improving the livelihoods of forest communities. The ISFL combines upfront technical assistance with results-based finance which rewards countries which implement landscape-level approaches that reduce emissions from the forest and land-use sector. ISFL works with 5 countries: Colombia, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Mexico and Zambia. Defra is supporting programmes in Indonesia and Zambia with upfront finance and potentially all countries with results based finance.
ORRAA Programme
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA) is a multi-sector alliance that aims to drive investment into coastal natural capital through the development of innovative finance solutions. These products will reduce vulnerability and build resilience in the most exposed and vulnerable coastal regions and communities. The UK has committed £13.9 million into ORRAA, delivered in two phases. A successful Phase 1 in 2021-22 provided £1.9m in grant funding, followed by Phase 2 from 2022-2026 with £12m committed in grant funding. The UK’s investment will address 2 challenges faced by coastal communities and the ocean environment: 1) Tackling the impacts of anthropogenic climate change and biodiversity loss. 2) Overcoming barriers that prevent finance flowing into nature-based solutions. The grant awarded to ORRAA will support their aims to drive at least $500 million of investment into coastal and ocean natural capital, and produce at least 50 new, innovative finance products, by 2030. This would positively impact the resilience of 250 million climate vulnerable people in coastal areas worldwide.
Ocean Community Empowerment and Nature (OCEAN)
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The Ocean Community Empowerment and Nature (OCEAN) Grants Programme is a competitive grants scheme to support projects that aim to deliver lasting change to the marine environment and coastal communities. The programme is funded through Official Development Assistance (ODA) as part of the UK’s £500 million Blue Planet Fund. In the last 10 years, less than 1% (around USD ~$13 billion) of the total value of the ocean has been invested in sustainable projects, even though the ocean supports the livelihoods of 1 in 10 people globally. OCEAN seeks to redress this imbalance and support people and communities who have most acutely and disproportionately been impacted by climate change. Organisations including Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) can submit applications for funding to deliver projects in ODA eligible countries. There are two pots of funding available to bid for, with a smaller pot of up to £250,000 being targeted for small scale, local, in-country organisations and a larger one of up to £3 million to support organisations that can fund large-scale activities and scale up effective solutions. OCEAN directly supports the International Development Strategy, which emphasises the necessity of localising ODA. The fund’s long-term objective is to increase the capacity of local organisations to drive equitable and inclusive decision-making, which will in turn enable communities to manage and benefit from marine ecosystems sustainably. An investment of up to £60 million for OCEAN was announced by the Environment Secretary, Steve Barclay, in December 2023 at COP28 in Dubai.
UK Blue Carbon Fund
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The Fund will promote the sustainable management, conservation and restoration of mangrove habitats by developing and embedding operational blue carbon markets across the Caribbean and Latin America that provide local communities with a sustainable income and assist in moving low-income countries towards low-emission, climate-resilient development.
Land Degradation Neutrality Fund
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The LDN Fund invests in projects which reduce or reverse land degradation and thereby contribute to ‘Land Degradation Neutrality’. The LDN Fund is co-promoted by the Global Mechanism of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and Mirova. It is a public-private partnership using public money to increase private sector investment in sustainable development. The fund invests in sustainable agriculture, forestry and other land uses globally. The Fund was launched at the UNCCD’s COP 13 in China in 2017.
Global Programme on Sustainability
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The programme supports sustainable economic growth that is both long-lasting and resilient to climate-related stressors. It does this through the integration of natural capital into decision making by governments, the private sector and financial institutions. The inability to value natural capital can undermine long-term growth and critically, the livelihoods of the poorest people dependent on ecosystems for their livelihoods. This programme directly addresses this challenge by (i) investing in data and research on natural capital; (ii) assisting countries to integrate this analysis into government policy making; and (iii) integrating this data and analysis into financial sector decision making.
United Nations Development Programme: Climate Promise
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The UNDP Climate Promise programme helps developing countries implement their national climate pledges – Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The programme aims to increase ambition, implementation and engagement for NDCs under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Defra's contribution focuses on the Forest, Land and Nature work area, contributing to increase the representation of nature in 8 countries’ NDCs through to COP27, the Global Stocktake in 2023 and to 2026. Project activities include: - Supporting countries in assessing the extent to which nature could contribute to meet climate targets, and establishing the steps required to meet this potential; - Supporting countries to develop detailed delivery plans and policies across relevant sectors that would enable them to maximise the role of nature in reaching the Paris climate goal; - Supporting countries in implementing delivery plans and policies, so that commitments and targets could be delivered through concrete actions. The UNDP Climate Promise aligns with the Prime Minister’s commitment of at least £3 billion of ICF to climate change solutions that protect and restore nature and biodiversity over five years, HMG’s Integrated Review, Response to the Dasgupta Review and COP26 commitments including the Glasgow Leaders Declaration.
Low-carbon Agriculture for avoided deforestation and poverty reduction Phase II (Rural Sustentavel)
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
As a follow-up phase to a similar ICF intervention in Brazil, Rural Sustentável aims to promote low-carbon agriculture (LCA) on small and medium-scale farms to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through avoided deforestation, enhance producers’ income and quality of life, increase the adoption of sustainable practices, and foster policy replications in Brazil and abroad. The programme operates through three distinct projects in separate Brazilian biomes: PRS Amazon, PRS Cerrado, and PRS Caatinga. Each project has its own budget, implementing agency, timelines, and activities but despite their differences, all three projects share a common theory of change: by providing small- and medium-scale farmers and landowners with alternative methods of production and income generation, the rate of deforestation can be significantly reduced.
Darwin Initiative
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The Darwin Initiative is the UK’s flagship international challenge fund for biodiversity conversation and poverty reduction, established at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. The Darwin Initiative is a grant scheme working on projects that aim to slow, halt, or reverse the rates of biodiversity loss and degradation, with associated reductions in multidimensional poverty. To date, the Darwin Initiative has awarded more than £195m to over 1,280 projects in 159 countries to enhance the capability and capacity of national and local stakeholders to deliver biodiversity conservation and multidimensional poverty reduction outcomes in low and middle-income countries. More information at https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/the-darwin-initiative. This page contains information about Rounds 27 onwards. For information about Rounds 1 to 26, please see the Darwin Initiative website -https://www.darwininitiative.org.uk/
Darwin Plus
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
Darwin Plus is a UK government grants scheme that helps deliver long-term strategic outcomes for the unique biodiversity, the natural environment and improving resilience to climate change within the UK Overseas Territories. It also also provides funding to build capacity through training and education opportunities for UKOT nationals. Part of Darwin Plus is ODA funded to support Overseas Territories Montserrat, St Helena, Tristan da Cunha and Pitcairn Island. This page contains information about Main Rounds 10 onwards and Darwin Plus Local 1 onwards. For information about previous Rounds, please see the Darwin Plus website -https://darwinplus.org.uk/
Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
Illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is a widespread and lucrative criminal activity causing major global environmental and social harm. The IWT has been estimated to be worth up to £17 billion a year. Nearly 6,000 different species of fauna and flora are impacted, with almost every country in the world playing a role in the illicit trade. The UK government is committed to tackling illegal trade of wildlife products and is a long-standing leader in efforts to eradicate the IWT. Defra manages the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund, which is a competitive grants scheme with the objective of tackling IWT and, in doing so, contributing to sustainable development in developing countries. Projects funded under the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund address one, or more, of the following themes: • Developing sustainable livelihoods to benefit people directly affected by IWT, • Strengthening law enforcement, • Ensuring effective legal frameworks, • Reducing demand for IWT products. By 2023 over £51 million has been committed to 157 projects since the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund was established in 2013. This page contains information about Rounds 7 onwards. For information about Rounds 1 to 6, please see the IWTCF website -https://iwt.challengefund.org.uk/
The eco.business Fund
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The eco.business fund is a public-private partnership investment fund which aims to shift incentives in financial institutions (i.e. Banks) towards investing in nature, by embedding social and environmental risk into investment decisions, catalysing transformational change in the financial sector. The fund will increase lending to businesses which incorporate sustainable practices that contribute to biodiversity conservation, sustainable use of natural resources, climate change mitigation and adaptation to its impact across South America: Ecuador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Colombia, Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru.
International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime Strategic Vision 2030
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The Illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is a lucrative transnational crime which undermines governance, fuels corruption, creates instability, threatens species with extinction and deprives some of the world’s poorest communities of sustainable livelihoods. The International Consortium on Combatting Wildlife Crime (ICCWC)’s Strategic Vision 2030 programme involves a global collaborative effort of inter-governmental organisations, which aims to create a fit for purpose law enforcement and criminal justice system that effectively addresses wildlife crime. The ICCWC Vision 2030 programme will guide ICCWC interventions through a series of targeted approaches to achieve the five outcomes: 1) reduced opportunity for wildlife crime, 2) increased deterrence of wildlife crime, 3) increase detection of wildlife crime, 4) increase disruption and detention of criminals, and 5) evidence-based action, knowledge exchange and collaboration. Defra’s funding will contribute towards delivering the interventions for outcomes 3, 4 and 5. Implementation of activities will develop capacity within, and provide support to, wildlife authorities, police, customs, and justice systems in strategically important developing countries, to ensure that they effectively respond to and address wildlife crime. The strategy shifts involvement in the IWT to a high-risk low-reward environment. Reduced IWT will help alleviate poverty, biodiversity loss and climate change. The collaborative global working of ICCWC combines partners with diverse and extensive experiences and brings together countries impacted by IWT to yield more effective results in addressing wildlife crime.
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