The contribution of BIST to the UK’s third round of International Climate commitments (ICF3: 2021 to 2022 and 2025 to 2026)
Published 2 October 2026
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1. Introduction
The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST) is one of 4 departments contributing to the His Majesty’s Government’s (HMGs) commitment to support developing countries in their response to climate change through International Climate Finance (ICF).
This publication reports on ICF commitments funded by BIST, including through its predecessor departments: the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and subsequently the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). These commitments were delivered through research and development (R&D) Official Development Assistance (ODA) Funds, including the International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF), and the now closed Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) and Newton Fund (NF). BIST is publishing these figures as the successor department responsible for ISPF.
This document summarises BIST’s contributions towards the UK’s third round of ICF (ICF3) from financial year (FY) 2021 to 2022 to FY 2025 to 2026, covering expenditure through its R&D ODA Funds and ‘Other ODA’, and presents the methodology used to classify funded research activities as contributing to ICF.
2. BIST ICF spend
Across BIST’s ODA portfolio, £208.5 million has been spent on activities that contribute to ICF from FY 2021 to 2022 and FY 2025 to 2026.
Table 1: Total ICF3 spend in BIST ODA by FY
| Funding type | FY 2021/22 | FY 2022/23 | FY 2023/24 | FY 2024/25 | FY 2025/26 | ICF3 period |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ISPF | £0.0 million | £0.0 million | £20.2 million | £44.6 million | £45.2 million | £110.0 million |
| GCRF | £20.6 million | £16.7 million | £6.6 million | £1.1 million | £0.6 million | £45.7 million |
| NF | £16.3 million | £13.7 million | £9.1 million | £0.0 million | £0.0 million | £39.1 million |
| Other ODA | £1.9 million | £1.4 million | £1.5 million | £4.8 million | £4.1 million | £13.7 million |
| Total ICF3 spend | £38.8 million | £31.8 million | £37.4 million | £50.5 million | £49.9 million | £208.5 million |
ISPF was designed to encourage research and innovation (R&I) in the UK’s international relationships, supporting researchers and innovators to work with peers around the world. During the period 2023 to 2026, ISPF focused on the major themes of resilient planet, health, tech and talent, which significantly impact low- and middle-income countries.
GCRF provided dedicated funding to research focused on addressing global challenges which most significantly impacted developing countries. It achieved this by supporting challenge-led disciplinary research, strengthening capacity for R&I within developing countries, and providing an agile response to emergencies. Be aware that GCRF closed in 2025.
The NF supported bilateral and regional R&I partnerships between the UK and select middle-income countries, to address specific global development challenges and build science and innovation capacity. Be aware that NF closed in 2023.
In addition to spend under BIST’s R&D funding vehicles, the total ICF3 figure includes ODA-eligible activities funded through broader HMG core R&D spend, referred to as ‘Other ODA’, which BIST monitors. This consists of ODA-eligible R&I activities funded through core budgets rather than specific ODA funds, for example activity funded by UK R&Is core budget, or contributions to the World Meteorological Organisation.
A full list of BIST activities that are included in the ICF3 figures are available in Annex A. BIST has previously contributed climate finance data to UK-level United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) reporting. Figures presented in this publication are based on a revised and consistently applied methodology across the department’s ODA R&D portfolio and should be regarded as BIST’s most up-to-date assessment of ICF expenditure.
3. Data reviewed
BIST collects data and information on its ODA activity and expenditure reported by Partner Organisations (also referred to as Delivery Partners) delivering programmes under BIST’s international R&D funds.
The information provided by Partner Organisations was used to identify BIST’s ICF spending. For the FY 2021 to 2022 and FY 2025 to 2026, this included funding from ISPF, GCRF, NF and as well as ‘Other ODA’. These activities were assessed and classified using the same methodology applied to activities funded through ISPF, GCRF and NF.