UK To Dole Out Funds To Aid Marine Protection

UK To Dole Out Funds To Aid Marine Protection

By Okojie Evans

Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey today urged more countries to join the more than 120 nations who already support the pledge to protect 30% of the world’s ocean by 2030.

Speaking as global leaders came together to tackle the global biodiversity crisis at the UN Conference of Biological Diversity (CBD) CO15 in Montreal, Canada, the Environment Secretary led calls for more ambitious and meaningful outcomes for ocean protection and confirmed the UK will renew its role as Chair of the Global Ocean Alliance beyond COP15.

By continuing in this role, the UK will remain as a leading voice in pushing for ambitious ocean action and the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework in the marine environment.

It comes as Defra announced that £20 million in grants – worth between £250,000 and £3 million – will be made available to local organisations around the world to help tackle illegal fishing and fight marine pollution, as well as sustainably managing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and protecting rare habitats and species.

Alongside this, the UK will contribute a further £17 million of aid from the Blue Planet Fund to the World Bank’s PROBLUE programme, bringing total UK support to PROBLUE to £25 million. To date, PROBLUE has helped over 100 projects in more than 70 countries, including supporting the ASEAN regional plastic waste trade, and India’s transition to a regulated sustainable fishery regime.