The UK provides a variety of bilateral and multilateral funding for biodiversity-related projects outside the UK, including in the UK Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. Much of this funding is linked to achieving wider socio-economic development goals through Official Development Assistance (also known as the 'overseas aid budget').
The UK provides funding to the multilateral Global Environment Facility, which funds a variety of biodiversity conservation projects, including those relating to the implementation of the CBD.
The UK Government’s Darwin Initiative provides grants to projects in many different nations, helping countries to protect biodiversity through locally based projects and meet their commitments to CBD. Projects typically try to address threats to biodiversity such as: habitat loss or degradation; climate change; invasive species; over-exploitation; and pollution and eutrophication. Darwin Plus is a related fund, supporting projects that aim to protect the unique biodiversity and improve resilience to climate change within the UK Overseas Territories. The Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund is a further related UK Government fund, that provides support to projects around the world that are tackling the illegal wildlife trade
The International Climate Fund is supported by several UK Government Departments and provides financial support to developing countries to respond to the challenges and opportunities of climate change. This includes projects focussed on finding nature-based solutions which address climate change, poverty and biodiversity loss simultaneously. In 2021, the Prime Minister committed at least £3 billion of international climate finance to climate change solutions that protect and restore nature and biodiversity over five years.
The UK's £500 million Blue Planet Fund supports developing countries to reduce poverty, protect and sustainably manage their marine resources, and deal with human-generated threats across 4 key themes: biodiversity, climate change, marine pollution and sustainable seafood.
The Conflict, Stability and Security Fund is supported by several UK Government Departments and provides financial support to reduce the risk of instability within vulnerable countries. It funds a variety of projects, including those where biodiversity conservation contributes to stability and security.
The UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office also administers a variety of funding schemes, many of which can provide financial support to projects with a biodiversity conservation component. This includes funding for research and development, as well as implementation.
The UK Government provides funding for ecological research, including research relevant to the implementation of the CBD outside the UK, through the Natural Environment Research Council , the Newton Fund and the Global Challenges Research Fund.
