12/30/2023 0 Comments Blue planet international inc![]() While coordination between the Fund and the departments is guided by the delivery framework, there is no apparent overarching strategy. However, in practice there is both overlap between the two departments’ activities and gaps in delivery against some strategic outcomes. Defra and FCDO each lead on different strategic outcomes as set out in the Fund’s delivery framework. The Fund has emerged as a collection of programmes rather than a jointly managed and coherent fund. By prioritising the quick launch of the Fund, Defra’s funding allocations were made before key management processes were in place. This staggered timeline has, in our opinion, impeded the coherence of the Fund. ![]() Coherence: How coherent and coordinated is the Blue Planet Fund within and across the two departments (Defra and FCDO)?įCDO started delivery of Blue Planet Fund programmes two years after Defra, because it was the department which absorbed the majority of the aid budget reductions owing to COVID-19’s impact on the economy and the UK government’s decision to reduce its ODA spending commitment. However, by choosing to scale up, adapt, merge or rename ongoing activities, the department limited opportunities to design a Fund portfolio primarily focused on countries with the greatest needs. The department took this approach to launch the Fund before the UK government hosted two major international summits in 2021: the G7 and the international climate conference COP26. Some of Defra’s allocations were to programmes that were already established or in the pipeline and were re-assigned to the Fund. The Blue Planet Fund is centrally managed, and its design suffered from a lack of adequate consultation on country and regional needs, both in assembling its list of priority countries and in how funding is apportioned across those countries. ![]() The Fund’s own KPIs remain in draft form, with three of its draft indicators mapping to five ICF indicators. For programme spending that is counted as ICF, the Blue Planet Fund is required to collect and report results against at least one of the ICF key performance indicators (KPIs). The majority of the Fund’s spending is counted as ICF and falls under the International climate finance strategy pillar ‘nature for climate and people’. The Blue Planet Fund represents a significant increase in the UK’s contribution to tackling key marine issues and supporting the globally underfunded UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 “to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”. Findings Relevance: How relevant is the Blue Planet Fund to developing country needs as part of meeting the UK’s international climate finance objectives? This review assesses the Fund’s relevance to the needs of developing countries how well Defra and FCDO coordinate the Fund’s delivery and whether it has the governance arrangements, systems and procedures in place to allocate its funds to help developing countries protect the marine environment and reduce poverty. The two departments had, as of November 2023, allocated more than 90% of the Fund to programmes. Defra started the five-year delivery of its £310 million majority share of the Fund in 2021, while FCDO only began delivering its £190 million share in 2023. Investments are made in four thematic areas: marine biodiversity, climate change, marine pollution, and sustainable seafood. The Blue Planet Fund is jointly managed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), with Defra the strategic lead and delivering the largest portion of the Fund. The Fund forms part of the UK government’s broader commitment to provide £11.6 billion in international climate finance (ICF) to support developing countries’ efforts to address climate change, of which at least £3 billion will be invested in efforts to protect nature. Launched in June 2021, the £500 million Blue Planet Fund is the UK government’s main vehicle for official development assistance (ODA) to help developing countries protect their marine ecosystems and reduce poverty through the sustainable management of the ocean and its resources.
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