Supporting communities to take action on climate change – the Climate Action Fund so far..

It’s been 18 months since we launched the Climate Action Fund – a £100million fund that supports communities across the UK to take action on climate change - and a lot has happened in that time. We received a staggering 630+ early stage applications for the first round following the summer 2019 launch, highlighting that there is so much happening across communities and countless projects emerging to tackle the climate emergency from all pockets of the UK.

Deciding on what applications to take through to the final stages of round one was incredibly challenging and brought about some key learnings for our team; firstly, it is important to fully review what groups very generously provided us in the first round and use these insights to help shape the programme going forward. Secondly, to look at how we can involve a wide range of groups, even if we aren’t funding their projects, as part of the broader movement of change.

In the weeks and months before we prepared to make the first awards for the first round, the COVID-19 crisis had reached the UK and with this, a new set of unforeseen challenges was thrown into the mix. Lockdown safety measures meant decision making panels took place from kitchen tables and in spare rooms. It also meant we were unable to visit any projects. We’ll continue to work with applicants to understand how the pandemic will impact the delivery plans of their projects and where flexibility is needed. We suspect such flexibility will need to remain for some time yet.

In 2020, we awarded over £19.5 million to 23 projects across the UK as part of the first inaugural Climate Action Fund cohort. These awards are a mix of both longer term, large scale awards and shorter development grants for emergent ideas and projects that need more time to develop partnerships, engage widely or test approaches and learn from them. All of the projects will use National Lottery funding to demonstrate what is possible when people take the lead in tackling climate change and work together, share learning and be catalysts for broader and transformative change.

There were 14 projects awarded in June (6 full and 8 development awards), receiving in total £14.3 million in funding. After further development over the summer, an additional 9 projects were selected in October (3 full and 6 development awards) receiving a total of £5.2 million in funding. See the table below for all the projects.

And with that, we had our summer and autumn cohorts making up our first ever round of the programme! Having decisions made across two stages for this first round of funding is a different approach to what we originally planned but, alongside an increased budget for this past financial year, reflects the Fund’s continued commitment to the climate emergency.

We finished 2020 with a virtual event in December, bringing the full cohort together. From Lambeth to Leeds, Glasgow to Gwynedd, our group was able to connect and learn about the other projects with many meeting for the first time.

Inevitably the ongoing lockdown restrictions have meant some changes to initial plans but all our round one projects are ready to hit the ground running in 2021.

For example, The Farm Net Zero project in Cornwall are using their grant to help the local farming community move towards net-zero carbon emissions by creating opportunities for farmers in the region to learn about economically beneficial changes they can make to farming practices that also reduce carbon emissions. And Cumbria Action for Sustainability (CAfS) have set the goal of becoming the UK’s first zero carbon county by 2037, using their grant to facilitate renewable energy schemes and an established eco-tourism scheme in the Lake District.

Watch this space as we share more news and updates on all our grant-holders in the weeks and months ahead.

Of course, we have also started to think about what the next round of the programme will look like. More information will be shared on this very soon on our website and look out for updates across our social media.

Then there is the broader work we’re looking at; how we can support lasting change and generate more participation and engagement on climate change across civil society. This, for me, is the most fascinating part of the programme. To meaningfully act on climate change will require multiple movements, communities and institutions working together over the long-term. We want to explore our role in supporting this broader movement of change. Through the projects we fund, our ambition is that they will encourage and inspire people across the UK to take climate action in their own communities and we will be working with others to support our grant-holders to do this. We’re about to go out to tender for this element of the programme and will be sharing more information about this in the coming months.

What happens next globally as we move forwards from the pandemic, and figure out what the world looks like, feels intertwined with climate change. Communities across the UK have come together and shown drive and inspiration in face of the new and difficult pressures posed by COVID-19. They are well placed to understand, act and deliver effective responses to the crisis quickly and appropriately, and we’re  confident with people in the lead communities can tackle climate action and responding to the climate crisis.  While there is still uncertainty, there is also a great deal of opportunity to build on the resilient community networks that have been created.

• Set up in 2019

• Delivery of a £100 million fund

• £19.5 million awarded so far

• 630+ applications received in first round

• 40 projects invited to submit a full proposal

• 23 projects awarded funding

• One round of funding so far, with second round to be announced shortly