Blue Planet Fund
A review examining the £500 million Blue Planet Fund, designed to help developing nations to protect the marine environment and reduce poverty.
Latest news
We have published our rapid review of the UK’s Blue Planet Fund, which makes four recommendations. The government’s response was published in January 2024.
Summary
In January 2021, the government committed to spending at least £3 billion of the UK’s promised £11.6 billion of international climate finance to protect and restore nature. As part of this, ministers established the £500 million Blue Planet Fund, intended to support low- and middle-income countries to reduce poverty and protect ocean biodiversity.
The Blue Planet Fund supports the delivery of the government’s 2021 Integrated review and the 2022 Strategy for international development, which put tackling climate change biodiversity loss at the heart of the UK’s international priorities.
It also contributes to wider UK government commitments to protect at least 30% of the global ocean by 2030 and to tackle plastic pollution.
The fund is managed jointly by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). Its first projects were launched in 2021-22, with further programming announcements made at the 2022 UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon. Our review will look at the relevance, coherence and effectiveness of the Blue Planet Fund to date.
Sustainable Development Goals
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals relevant to this review are:
