CLEAN Helpdesk

The Climate, Environment, and Nature (CLEAN) Helpdesk is a £3.7 million Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme running from November 2023 to March 2026. CLEAN is the successor to the Climate Mainstreaming Facility (CMF), which provided climate-focused technical assistance to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) officials under the wider CLARE programme. CLEAN is delivered by SouthSouthNorth (SSN) as the consortium lead with the ODI Global, Social Development Direct (SDDirect) and Paul Watkiss Associates. 

Context for the Development of the CLEAN Helpdesk 

In 2019, the UK committed to align all its ODA with the Paris Agreement on climate change, a commitment reaffirmed in the 2021 Integrated Review. Additionally, the UK pledged to integrate environmental considerations into its ODA, ensuring that all new bilateral aid does not harm nature. This is part of a broader commitment to allocate at least £3 billion of International Climate Finance (ICF) towards environmental protection by 2026. These commitments have since been reiterated in the Strategic Framework 2030. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s (FCDO) Programme Operating Framework (PrOF) mandates that all new programmes spending ODA adhere to these environmental standards and properly account for ICF expenditures and outcomes. 

How does the CLEAN Helpdesk function? 

CLEAN’s primary function is to act as a dedicated helpdesk and “one-stop-shop” for climate, environment and nature (CEN) resources and technical assistance, for FCDO and officials in other ODA-spending departments. The impact-level ambition is to support the UK to deliver meaningful contributions to build resilience to current and future climate impacts, halt and reverse global nature loss and halve global emissions. CLEAN aims to achieve its goals through three key objectives: direct and on-demand CEN technical assistance through a dedicated roster of experts, a gateway web application that hosts a resource library and provides access to other related technical assistance offers, and a monitoring, evaluation and learning function.

UK Government officials can request up to 20 days (per request) of tailored technical assistance to support CEN capacity and integration, including on Paris alignment, nature-proofing and ICF. The CLEAN Helpdesk mainstreams gender equity, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI) and safeguarding across all technical assistance. 

For any questions or comments, please contact: info@clean-helpdesk.org