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ORRAA UK Blue Planet Fund Call for Proposals

This call has now closed.

This latest Call for Proposals – financed through the UK’s Blue Planet Fund – is part of ORRAA’s continuing mission to catalyse the investment of at least USD$500 million into coastal and marine natural capital through the development and deployment of financial products that aim to build the resilience of 250 million climate vulnerable coastal people, by 2030. 

The Call is looking to back pioneering innovations, with up to USD$500,000 in support to nurture and scale the development of community-led finance and insurance products that build coastal and ocean resilience. 

Prospective projects can apply for either a Pilot or Project grant, depending on the level of development of their project. 

Grant Type  Description Funding Amount Implementation Timeline  
Pilot grant Tailored for organisations to test and pilot innovative solutions. Between US$50,000 – US$150,000 Up to 24 months 
Project grant Tailored for organisations to pilot innovative solutions and scale up and replicate proven ideas in new contexts. Between USD$150,000 – USD$500,000 Up to 24 months 

The ORRAA Secretariat hosted two webinars to answer questions from prospective applicants on Tuesday 16 May 2023. 240 people in total attended the webinars. You can watch a recording of one of the webinars here.

This call closed midnight (BST) Sunday 2 July 2023.

Over 140 applications were received. These are now being assessed.

Supported projects are expected to be launched by the end of 2023. 

For further information on the Proposal timeline, the evaluation process, and frequently asked questions, please see the Guidelines for Applicants

Successful projects must meet the following guidelines to be considered by the ORRAA Secretariat.  

Projects applying for support need to either:  

  1. Pioneer innovative and scalable finance and insurance products that build resilience and protect and/or regenerate valuable coastal and ocean natural assets, while delivering a return on investment 
  2. Accelerate research and modelling on ocean risk and resilience to inform financial innovation as well as private and public sector policy action
  3. Inform, advance, and drive public and private policy commitments and action that value nature, build coastal resilience, reduce ocean risk, and accelerate the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework 

In addition, projects must: 

  • Promote the development of ocean and coastal Nature-based Solutions (NbS), habitat protection practices and sustainable management, support climate change adaptation and/or mitigation, or mitigate risk multipliers like overfishing and pollution 
  • Align with the priorities and interests of local communities 
  • Deliver enhanced economic, social, and cultural resilience for climate vulnerable coastal communities 
  • Improve marine biodiversity, support either net zero or climate positive outcomes, and not result in negative impacts on communities or the ecosystems they are designed in which to build resilience 

Geographic Focus:  

Projects should either be located or deployed in coastal countries that are Official Development Assistance (ODA), which do not conflict with applicable individual and consolidated sanctions set out by the United States. Special consideration will be given to projects located or deployed in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Coastal Least Developed Countries (LDCs). A complete list of countries is included in the Guidelines for Applicants on page six.  

Delivery Partners:  

To ensure projects are community-led and driven by local partners, projects must include organisations from the Global South as lead or supporting partners and should demonstrate how they will build stakeholder engagement to advance their objectives. While we strongly encourage private sector participation as supporting partners, a project cannot be led by a private sector organisation. 

Environmental and Social Impact:  

Projects must ensure they are underpinned by gender equity and human rights, and support coastal communities in reducing their exposure or vulnerability to ocean risks by increasing their ability to build resilience in the face of uncertainty.  

Projects should accelerate the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular, SDG14 (Life below Water), and should be directly relevant to at least three additional SDGs.