Sweeping budget cuts are set to hit UK-funded environmental projects in developing countries, as revealed by FOI data detailed in the Nature Finance Tracker.

Among the programmes included in the cuts is the £500m Blue Planet Fund, set up in the wake of Sir David Attenborough’s documentary series. The programme is one of the larger funds going to oceans, with nature funding often favouring terrestrial projects.

Further marine focused programmes are also slated to be hit by budget cuts including: the Global Plastic Action Partnership, Global Fund for Coral Reefs, Ocean community empowerment and nature programme (OCEAN) including Coast (Climate and Ocean Adaptation and Sustainable Transition) and Pact (Prepare and Accelerate Climate Transitions).

These projects build resilience in coastal communities, establish marine protected areas, help some of the poorest countries in the world to implement sustainable fishing practices, support food security and help deal with global plastic waste.

The projects gained funding through Boris Johnson’s pledge to spend £11.6bn on international climate finance (ICF) from 2021 to 2026 before the COP26 UN climate summit in Glasgow.

Now that the ICF funding commitment is expiring, reports reveal that the current British government plans to reduce the next round by more than a fifth – to £9bn over the next five years.

Adrian Gahan, co-founder of the Nature Finance Tracker who submitted the FOI requests, told us: “It’s pretty clear that the government is preparing to cut a lot of funding. They haven’t announced it yet and we would like them to assure us that that is not going to be the case.”

On the importance of the environmental development programmes he added: “These programmes are not just saving wildlife, they’re helping bring people out of poverty. It’s like a triple win: good for people, good for the climate, good for nature.”

In response to the reports, CEO of Blue Marine Foundation Clare Brook, said: “The ocean is the least funded of all of the 14 UN Sustainable Development Goals, despite being the most important ecosystem for sustaining all life on Earth. The UK’s Blue Planet Fund is one of the few donor country programmes trying to fill that gap.”

“It would be extremely short-sighted of the government to cut funding that is supporting people and nature across Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, the Pacific and Latin America. I urge Yvette Cooper and Emma Reynolds not to let this happen,” she added.

These cuts also come at a time when aid budgets have been reduced, and defence spending increased. From 2027, the aid budget will be reduced from 0.5 to 0.3% of gross national income. 

And today, Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her Spring forecast announced: “The biggest uplift in defence spending since the Cold War.”

Gahan recognised the aid funding limitations, but said he would like to see nature funding remaining the same proportionally – meaning roughly a third of ICF going to nature for the next five years.

Dr Amy McDonnell, Co-Director of the Zero Hour climate and nature campaign told us: “Rachel Reeves said she wants to protect families from turbulence beyond our borders. But the way the Government is slashing international funding to protect climate and nature does the opposite.”

Earlier this year, the UK security intelligence chief warned in a report that biodiversity collapse threatens UK security by increasing food shortages, creating disorder and sparking mass migration.

“If the Government recognises that ecosystem collapse is a national security threat, why cut the very funding that helps prevent it?” McDonnell added.

Gahan said that the lack of transparency around the use of these funds – which he largely attributes to bureaucratic changes after leaving the EU – has meant it is difficult to build sufficient public support or political engagement around the value of nature funding.

However, he said he believed the government would face significant backlash for cutting the Blue Planet Fund.

“This programme is named after the David Attenborough series. It’s David Attenborough’s 100th birthday this summer. Does the government really want to cut this programme named in his honour on his 100th birthday? I think that’s bad politics,” he adds.

In response to the reports, political campaigner at Greenpeace UK Felix Lane said: “If this government is serious about international ocean leadership, it must stop these short-sighted cuts. It must act on its commitment to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030 and focus on establishing a network of ocean sanctuaries across the Atlantic, including the Sargasso Sea.”

86 environmental conservation organisations have called on the Prime Minister to increase, not cut, UK climate finance.

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