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UK Prime Minister’s ODA Announcement and what this means for Darwin Plus

Official Development Assistance (ODA) Announcement 

On the 25 February, the UK Prime Minister announced that the UK will increase defence spending to 2.5% of UK gross national income (GNI) from 2027. This will fund the capabilities, technology and industrial capacity vital to keep the UK and allies safe amid an era of renewed state conflict. This uplift will be funded through reductions to UK Official Development Assistance (ODA, also known as overseas aid) spend from 0.5% to 0.3% of GNI. At present, roughly 30% of Darwin Plus is funded through ODA. Therefore, overall programme management for Darwin Plus relies upon understanding where ODA funding will still support our work. 

What does this mean for applications in Round 13 Darwin Plus (Main, People & Skills, and Strategic) and Round 5 Darwin Plus Local?   

Defra will wait for greater certainty over the affordability of grants before deciding if we are able to fund the proposals still under consideration. We will keep prospective grantees updated as we hear more. 

We expect to provide an update in July or August.  

What does this mean for new launches? 

At this point, we don’t have any further information on new funding rounds, except that Defra is temporarily pausing the launch of new funding rounds under Darwin Plus. Again, we expect to provide an update in July or August We will update the website and Biodiversity Challenge Funds social media as we receive more information about future funding rounds.