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Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
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.
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.
Developing a sustainable landscape management model for community-led forest conservation, carbon storage, and livelihoods enhancement across Madagascar's protected area network
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
Reducing deforestation, restoring and protecting degraded habitats and strengthening internal governance in Madagascar’s network of terrestrial protected areas.
Supporting the Pest Identification Service for ODA eligible UK Overseas Territories
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
Provision of identification service for invasive invertebrate plant pests for the UKOTs which can impact upon biodiversity and commercial interests and rapid advice when bio-security threats are detected. ODA funding is being used to support the provision of that service in ODA eligible territories.
Met Office Hadley Centre Climate Change Programme
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
Funding from UK government to deliver excellent climate research to provide an improved understanding of past climate and enable better projections to underpin national scientific capability and inform domestic and international policy commitments (e.g. Climate Change Act 2008 and UNFCCC negotiations). Climate models and underpinning science developed using MOHCCP funding are publically available and used as the foundation for many projects that aim to build resilience to a changing climate in developing countries. The models are used for developing systems in developing countries to produce climate projections. For example, the models have been used to analyse drought in the Horn of Africa, climate change impacts in Bangladesh and to build resilience to climate change in the Philippines.
Annual contribution to the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organisation (EPPO)
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
This UK Government contribution is for EPPO which is an intergovernmental organization responsible for cooperation in plant health within the Euro-Mediterranean region. Founded in 1951 by 15 European countries, EPPO now has 52 members (shown in green on the map). Its objectives are to protect plants, by developing international strategies against the introduction and spread of pests which are a threat to agriculture, forestry and the environment, and by promoting safe and effective pest control methods. Following the terms of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), EPPO is a Regional Plant Protection Organization and thus participates in global discussions on plant health. EPPO is a standard-setting organization which has produced a large number of Standards in the areas of plant protection products and plant quarantine. These Standards constitute recommendations that are addressed to the National Plant Protection Organizations of EPPO member countries. Finally, EPPO promotes the exchange of information between its member countries by maintaining information services and databases on plant pests, and by organizing many conferences and workshops.
Darwin Initiative Round 25
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The Darwin Initiative is a UK government grants scheme that helps to protect biodiversity and the natural environment through locally based projects worldwide. The initiative funds projects that help countries rich in biodiversity but poor in financial resources to meet their objectives under one or more of the biodiversity conventions. The objective is to to address threats to biodiversity such as: - habitat loss or degradation - climate change - invasive species - over-exploitation - pollution and eutrophication
UK Annual Contributions to the Montreal Protocol Trust Fund, Montreal Protocol Multilateral Fund and Vienna Convention Trust Fund
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
This activity supports an annual UK contribution to The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer which is a multilateral environmental agreement with universal ratification. It regulates the production and consumption of ozone depleting substances (ODS). Protection of the ozone layer is vital in preventing increased UV radiation, resulting in higher incidence of skin cancers and eye cataracts, more-compromised immune systems, and negative effects on watersheds, agricultural lands and forests. The Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol was established in 1991. The Fund's objective is to provide financial and technical assistance to developing country parties to the Montreal Protocol whose annual per capita consumption and production of ODS is less than 0.3 kg to comply with the control measures of the Protocol. The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer is a multilateral environmental agreement signed in 1985 that provided frameworks for international reductions in the production of chlorofluorocarbons due to their contribution to the destruction of the ozone layer, resulting in an increased threat of skin cancer.
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.
Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund Round 5
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
Illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is the fifth most lucrative transnational crime, worth up to £17bn a year globally. As well as threatening species with extinction, IWT destroys vital ecosystems. IWT also fosters corruption, feeds insecurity, and undermines good governance and the rule of law. The UK government is committed to tackling illegal trade of wildlife products. Defra manages the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund, which is a competitive grants scheme with the objective of tackling illegal wildlife trade 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 Over £23 million has been committed to 75 projects since the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund was established in 2013; five projects were awarded in 2014 (via applications to the Darwin Initiative), fourteen in 2015, fifteen in 2016, thirteen in 2017, fourteen in 2018 and in the latest round in 2019. This round of funding includes the following projects (details of which can be found at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/811381/iwt-project-list-2019.pdf)): IWT062, IWT063, IWT064, IWT065, IWT066, IWT067, IWT068, IWT069, IWT070, IWT071, IWT072, IWT073, IWT074, IWT075.
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.
Cities4Forests
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The Cities4Forests programme provides a network, between cities in developing nations, to share lessons learned and baselines on forest restoration and protection programmes. This allows best practice to be identified and adopted across cities’ interventions and facilitates accelerated innovation. Defra’s investment in Cities4Forests will finance specific activities that will help decision makers and officials in cities, in a number of developing countries, access tools, resources and technical assistance that can support them in developing policies and interventions to protect and restore forests. The programme will also seek to deliver a ‘global mayoral declaration’ on the value of trees and forests and their role in combatting climate change. The programme will focus on: strengthening institutional capacity and capability through technical assistance to improve developing country’s city government support for and investment in trees, forests, and green infrastructure; supporting developing country’s city governments to increase investment (political, economic, and social) and implement new and/or improved programs to support the management and conservation of inner and nearby forests; supporting and encouraging developing country mayors to increase political action and support for trees and forests as a solution for combatting climate change, supporting better water management, and improving human health and well-being.
Global Programme for 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 these data and analysis into financial sector decision making.
Darwin Initiative Round 26
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The Darwin Initiative is a UK government grants scheme that helps to protect biodiversity and the natural environment through locally based projects worldwide. The initiative funds projects that help countries rich in biodiversity but poor in financial resources to meet their objectives under one or more of the biodiversity conventions. The objective is to to address threats to biodiversity such as: - habitat loss or degradation - climate change - invasive species - over-exploitation - pollution and eutrophication
Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund Round 6
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
Illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is the fifth most lucrative transnational crime, worth up to £17bn a year globally. As well as threatening species with extinction, IWT destroys vital ecosystems. IWT also fosters corruption, feeds insecurity, and undermines good governance and the rule of law. The UK government is committed to tackling illegal trade of wildlife products. Defra manages the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund, which is a competitive grants scheme with the objective of tackling illegal wildlife trade 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 Over £26 million has been committed to 85 projects since the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund was established in 2013; five projects were awarded in 2014 (via applications to the Darwin Initiative), fourteen in 2015, fifteen in 2016, thirteen in 2017, fourteen in 2018 and thirteen in 2019 and ten in the latest round in 2020. (more info here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/919053/iwt-challenge-fund-list.pdf): IWT076, IWT077, IWT078, IWT082, IWT083, IWT079, IWT080, IWT081, IWT084, IWT085
Darwin Plus: environment funding for UK Overseas Territories
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
Darwin Plus (also known as The Overseas Territories Environment and Climate Fund) provides funding for environmental projects in UK Overseas Territories and fellowships for UK Overseas Territories (OT) Nationals to increase their knowledge and ability to meet long-term strategic outcomes for the natural environment in UK Overseas Territories. Part of Darwin Plus is ODA funded to support Overseas Territories Montserrat, St Helena and Pitcairn Island.
Biodiverse Landscapes Fund
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The Biodiverse Landscapes Fund aims to reduce poverty and create sustainable economic development for communities living in, and dependent upon, environmentally precious landscapes. It will restore landscapes and will deliver their long-lasting protection through sustainable management practices, improving the quality of ecosystems and safeguarding biodiversity. Protecting landscapes and habitats will help to tackle climate change. It will address the drivers of environmental degradation and support local governments, local and park authorities and communities to deliver long-term sustainable management and use of natural resources. The BLF will work with and through a range of actors and partners – NGOs, the private sector, governments, Civil Society Organisations, local communities and academics – to bring expertise, local access and capacity to enable the programme to work at multiple levels to deliver both practical and structural reform outcomes.
Global Environment Facility (GEF) 7th Replenishment
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
To support developing countries to implement international agreements on climate change, biodiversity, land degradation and harmful chemicals as integral elements of sustainable development. GEF’s other activities include sustainable forest management, international waters and protecting the ozone layer.
Low Carbon Agriculture for avoided deforestation and poverty reduction - Phase 2
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The programme operates in the Cerrado and Caatinga biomes in Brazil, over the course of four years (2017 - 2024). As a follow-up phase to a similar ICF intervention in Brazil, the programme aims to restore deforested and degraded land on small- and medium-sized farms and will target the barriers experienced by farmers in accessing rural credit.
Funding to build capacity and support cross-border action on the conservation of wildlife within countries in the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA)
Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs
The funding will be used to support KAZA countries to develop African-led trans-frontier approaches to support conservation of wildlife, including iconic species such as elephants through efforts in integrated land-use planning, human-wildlife conflict mitigation, community livelihoods and illegal wildlife trade. This funding will be used to provide technical assistance and build capacity within the KAZA countries to address areas for immediate action, provide a foundation for future work programmes and support access to wider funding options.
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