Applications Invited for Innovative climate-with-biodiversity-positive 2025

Follow us@ngobox

About the Organization

IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) is a membership Union of government and civil society organisations. Together, we work to advance sustainable development and create a just world that values and conserves nature.

About the Fund

The grant funding period will be a maximum of 24 months, ending by June 30, 2027, and is intended to support projects to achieve carbon standard registration and mobilise private sector investments and support, via the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM). Following the completion of the funding period, projects are expected to continue with the implementation of project activities without the support of the Innovation Facility.

Successful applicants will receive grants ranging from EUR 750,000 to EUR 1.5 million. Selected projects will also be required to contribute at least an additional 25% of the grant amount to the total project costs during the grant period.

Eligible activities

Activities in one or more of three areas are required.

Forest-based activities that focus on removals of CO2

• Key activities included under this category are restoration and agroforestry.
• Restoration refers to the recovery of degraded or deforested land and ecosystems: the recovery of biodiversity and ecosystem functions.
• Agroforestry is the integration of trees into agricultural systems, combining crops and/or livestock with forestry to enhance both carbon sequestration and land productivity. Well-designed and implemented agroforestry systems promote biodiversity, soil health, and carbon capture.
• Projects under this category should focus on generating carbon removals. REDD projects are excluded.

Inland wetland-based activities that focus on removals of CO2

• Wetlands, particularly peatlands, store vast amounts of carbon in the form of partially decayed organic matter, and they play a crucial role in climate regulation. The protection and restoration of these ecosystems can avoid emissions and enhance carbon removals.
• Carbon removals from peatlands involve the restoration of degraded peatlands, allowing them to re-establish their natural water-logged state and resume the slow accumulation of organic matter, which sequesters carbon.
• Projects under this category will focus predominantly on carbon removal. However, avoided emissions may also be considered as part of the overall project.

Coastal wetland activities that focus on removals of CO2

• Oceans and coastal ecosystems buffer much human-induced climate change. The main coastal ecosystems that are eligible for active climate mitigation policies are mangroves, salt marshes, kelp, and seagrass beds.
• Blue Carbon refers to the carbon stored in these ecosystems, which all play a crucial role in both avoided emissions and carbon removals. They sequester CO2 from the atmosphere and store it in both biomass and the sediment beneath them.

Eligibility

• Applications will be accepted from a wide range of organisations involved in the design, development, and implementation of high-quality, scalable nature-based projects for carbon markets, such as Local or international non-governmental organisations (NGOs); Indigenous Peoples (IPs), and Local Community (LCs) organisations; private project developers; forestry and agricultural companies; cooperatives; and others with the relevant expertise.
• All applicants must be willing and able to work closely with national stakeholders, Indigenous Peoples and their traditional authorities, and local communities. For any project, consent and all required authorisations from all levels of government is necessary.
• Every applicant must demonstrate relevant competence, technical and financial capacities, and have a track record of managing comparable projects with robust environmental and social safeguards during implementation.

How to Apply

The deadline for Concept Note submission is Thursday, 13 February 2025 at 17:00 (5pm) Central European Time (CET).

For more information please check the Link

Stay in the loop with the newest RFPs and Grants through NGOBOX's WhatsApp Channel. Join now by clicking here!

Tags Environment and Sustainability Others