Written question asked by Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour) on Wednesday, 6 December 2023, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 11 December 2023 (named day). It was answered by Rebecca Pow (Conservative) on Tuesday, 19 December 2023 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Blue Planet Fund

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of programmes supported through the Blue Planet Fund were already in operation before the Fund was established.

Answer: Since 2021, the Blue Planet Fund has invested into 12 programmes. Three programmes were already being supported through Defra’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocation: the Blue Forests Initiative, the Global Plastic Action Partnership and one component of the Championing Inclusivity in Plastic Pollution programme. Two further programmes - the Ocean Country Partnership Programme and Sustainable Blue Economies - are new Blue Planet Fund programmes, but where we incorporated the strongest components of other pre-existing Defra ODA programmes that were then closed prior to the launch of the Blue Planet Fund.

Secondary information