Luxembourg and IUCN launch third phase of pioneering Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility, putting coastal communities at its heart

The announcement was made by the Government of Luxembourg during the Luxembourg International Climate Finance Days in June 2026.

Building on lessons learnt across its first two phases, BNCFF Phase 3 retains its focus on the local level but shifts to a tailor-made approach, engaging directly on the ground with local actors to understand their realities and needs. Funding will be channelled to initiatives that significantly improve the livelihoods of vulnerable coastal populations and strengthen the sustainable small-scale fisheries sector, on which millions of people depend for food, income and identity.

Launched almost ten years ago, BNCFF was among the first facilities of its kind: a technical-assistance mechanism that finds blue natural capital projects proposed by local communities in developing nations, rigorously analyses their benefits to nature, people and society, and helps see them implemented and held accountable for results. Its work has spanned mangroves, seagrass, coral reefs and marine protected areas across Latin America, Africa and Asia – from the mangrove sanctuary of Manglares de Tumbes in Peru to the Palk Bay Dugong Reserve in India and sustainable marine tourism in Indonesia's Nusa Penida.

BNCFF was also one of the earliest initiatives to be closely aligned with the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions, IUCN's framework for ensuring that interventions deliver measurable benefits for society, nature, and Indigenous Peoples and local communities alike.

"Luxembourg is proud to continue its partnership with IUCN through the third phase of the Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility," said Serge Wilmes, Minister of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity. "By focusing on tailor-made local projects that improve the livelihoods of vulnerable populations and strengthen small-scale fisheries, this phase reflects our conviction that effective climate and nature finance must reach the people and ecosystems that need it most."

"For almost ten years, the Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility has shown that protecting ocean and coastal environments and improving people's lives are not competing goals – they are two sides of the same coin," said Dr Grethel Aguilar, IUCN Director General. "This third phase, with Luxembourg's continued partnership, takes us closer to the communities who know these coasts best. By backing locally-designed projects and the small-scale fisheries that sustain millions, we are turning sound science into lasting benefit for nature and for people."

Over its first two phases, BNCFF drew support principally from governments and the financial sector. In Phase 3, the facility broadens its partnership base, inviting a wider range of supporters, seeking proven and accountable ways to invest in a sustainable ocean economy and the communities on its frontline.

The facility's reach is built on IUCN foundations: almost 80 years of work connecting governments and science, a network drawing on more than 19,000 volunteer experts, over 1,500 Member organisations, and regional offices that build and sustain projects on the ground across the world.

BNCFF's story has also been told through the first podcast series of its kind on blue natural capital finance, over two seasons and a special edition from the UN Ocean Conference.