Please find below some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) associated with the Action Fund. If you don't find the answer to your question here, contact us at: actionfund@iclei.org
The ICLEI Action Fund is a granting scheme conducted by ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability with support from Google.org to foster data-driven environmental and climate action at the local level. Launched in May 2020 in Europe, the programme has granted 2,5 million EUR to six non-profit and academic organisations to implement projects aimed at reducing existing and avoiding new emissions of greenhouse gases. On 12 May 2022, the Fund launched a news call for applications for non-profit and civil society organisations to apply to receive up to 1 million EUR each to implement data-driven action to help cities reduce emissions and build resilience to climate change.
Grants up to 1,000,000 EUR per institution/organisation, to be allocated in instalments.
Civil society organisations, academic institutions, and non-profit research institutes in the following cities are invited to apply for the Action Fund:
The call is open for projects focused on environmental and climate action, with an emphasis on mobility, buildings, solar energy, air quality management, and climate resilience. The Fund welcomes proposals that contribute to cities’ just transition and climate goals.
The Action Fund 2.0 will grant up to 1 million EUR per project. Even though there is no minimum funding defined, the goal is to support the implementation of real action at the local level. Therefore, the call targets large projects budgeted in the scope of 800,000 EUR to 1,000,000 EUR.
The Action Fund welcomes projects that use publicly available data, which may be complemented with private data. The Google Envrionmental Insights Explorer (EIE) tool is one example of data that can be used but it is not mandatory to use it. You can use as many datasets as you wish, as long as at least one of them is publicly available.
The Google EIE aims to make the process of assessing an emissions baseline and identifying reduction opportunities easier for cities. Unique Google data sources and modelling capabilities allow users to more easily produce estimates of related activity, greenhouse gas emissions, and reduction opportunities in over 100 cities worldwide.
The Google EIE is being updated on a continuous basis and, even though data for your city might not be publicly available in the tool, ICLEI Europe can provide you access to it. If you are interested in exploring the data further and would like more information, please contact us at actionfund@gmail.com.
Please note that in general there are two main cost categories, that can be covered by the Action Fund:
2. Indirect costs (fixed overheads: rent, insurance, office expenses, etc.) are also partially refundable.
In addition only reasonable and justified costs can be considered in the estimated budget of the action.
In order to be reasonable and justified for the action planning costs must be:
Furthermore, costs that can be covered depend mainly and directly on the described action and the estimated budget.
Indirect costs are costs that are not directly linked to the action of the project, but are partially eligible for reimbursement.
Indirect costs include costs frequently referred to as overhead expenses (e.g. rent and utilities) and administrative expenses (e.g. administration officers salaries, accounting department costs, etc.). In general indirect costs include administration, personnel and security costs.
In this call, a lump sum of up to 25% of the personnel costs, based on the actual and eligible* expenses can be covered by the Action Fund.
*in line with the Action Fund eligibility criteria
The organisation does not need to be based in one of the selected cities of the Action Fund, but the project(s) need to take place in one of the selected cities and work with data from that specific city. Collaboration may be sought with a local NGO or other local non-profit organisation, to develop the project in that city. Furthermore, it is key that the project contributes to the sustainability goals of the city.
It is important that applicants demonstrate a good connection with and local knowledge of the city, either by demonstrating cooperation with local organisations or with the local government.
Yes, consortiums with for-profit organisations are allowed. However, only civil society organisations, academic institutions, and non-profit research institutes are eligible to receive funding through the Action Fund. By partnering with other types of organisations or external experts, these shall, to a limited extent, be subcontracted.
No. The project can have as many partners as necessary but only one "lead organisation" that will act as project coordinator and be responsible for submitting the reports and receiving the funding and distributing it to the rest of the consortium as appropriate.
The goal of the Action Fund is to implement projects and actions on the ground. If data has to be treated so that it can be used for the implementation of a specific project, costs related to making the data available may be eligible. However, a project that only focuses on making data available or analysing data, without implementing any action, is not eligible for funding.
Municipalities can get involved in local Action Fund projects as supporters, service providers, sponsors or partners, having the opportunity to receive part of the funding in case of the latter. The Fund welcomes proposals that contribute to cities’ just transition and climate goals.
A City can be a partner in a project, but they cannot receive money directly from the Action Fund. Only civil society organisations, academic institutions, and non-profit research institutes are eligible to receive funding through the Action Fund. However, local governments are entitled to receive up to 15% of the total grant through the leading applicant organisation.
Organisations that are partly or fully owned by the City are eligible to receive funding through the Action Fund, as long as they are 100% non-profit organisations or research institutes. If you have questions about eligibility, contact us at: actionfund@iclei.org.
The Action Fund is open to supporting projects at any stage of development that might require additional or complementary funding to be completed, as long as it is well justified and there is evidence that the funding will be used for specific deliverables and results. The fund is also available for project components or phases, as long as it is properly justified in the proposal. The projects or its phases to be funded by the Action Fund should have tangible results, justification of the need for finance and alignment with the Action Fund call.
