Written question asked by Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour) on Tuesday, 12 December 2023, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 18 December 2023 (named day). It was answered by Andrew Mitchell (Conservative) on Monday, 18 December 2023 on behalf of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Blue Planet Fund: Poverty

Question: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Blue Planet Fund on levels of global poverty.

Answer: The strategic goal of the new UK International Development White Paper [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-development-in-a-contested-world-ending-extreme-poverty-and-tackling-climate-change] is to end extreme poverty and tackle climate change and biodiversity loss. Poverty reduction is at the heart of all ODA spend, as such, all Blue Planet Fund (BPF) programmes factor poverty reduction into their design and implementation. We produce and publish annual reviews for all BPF programmes assessing their performance. Alongside Defra, who are the HMG strategic lead for the BPF, we will use the recent ICAI recommendations to strengthen the BPF programme portfolio's coherence, effectiveness, and relevance, including its poverty impacts at portfolio and individual programme level.

Secondary information