To be impactful, sustainable and long-lasting, innovative climate actions must be evidence-based. To this end, cities need support to access and utilise the best available data. That is why the ICLEI Action Fund is back, and is pleased to be granting 7 million EUR to civil society organisations and academic institutions in six European cities that are using different sources of data to implement inclusive climate actions.
Led by ICLEI Europe through grant funding from Google.org, the funding programme boosts data-based projects that help local governments to improve environmental quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and adapt to the effects of climate change.
In total, seven projects based in the ICLEI Member Cities of Barcelona (Spain), Glasgow (UK), Rome (Italy), Rotterdam (The Netherlands), and Stockholm (Sweden), as well as in Dortmund (Germany), will receive 1 million EUR each to implement data-driven actions on topics such as energy poverty alleviation, energy-efficient buildings, renewable energy development, air quality management, and climate adaptation and resilience.
This is the second time that the ICLEI Action Fund has fostered environmental, data-driven action in Europe. From 2020-2022, the ICLEI Action Fund 1.0, also supported by Google.org, granted 2.5 million EUR to six non-profit and academic organisations in ICLEI Members Berlin (Germany), Copenhagen (Denmark), Hamburg (Germany), and Nantes (France), as well as in the United Kingdom cities of Birmingham and Oldham.
“The success of the Action Fund’s first phase enabled the launch of this second call for projects; we were pleased to receive 55 high-quality applications this round on a variety of topics. With such strong competition, it was hard to select only seven subgrantees in six European cities! We are confident that the chosen projects will bring innovation and launch data-driven actions that support inclusiveness and climate justice in each of the cities,” said ICLEI’s Regional Director Europe, Wolfgang Teubner.
The ICLEI Action Fund 2.0 reinforces both ICLEI Europe and Google.org’s commitments to accelerating climate action to build more sustainable cities through technology and innovation. Rowan Barnett, Director Google.org, Europe, Middle East & Africa, explains: “Cities need to accelerate their local climate efforts in order to meet their ambitions within the critical time frame. There’s an urgent need to finance data and innovation for effective climate action, and public-private partnerships can help achieve this. That's why, building on the success of the first ICLEI Action Fund, we are excited to support cities to deliver data-driven and innovative projects to accelerate progress towards a greener, more resilient Europe.”
This round of projects will kick-off in spring 2023 and run for the next two years. Each project will be officially announced at local events throughout the course of the spring and summer. In advance of their launches, the awardees have shared messages regarding how the ICLEI Action Fund will support their cities.
”It is great news that a project from the City of Stockholm has been selected by the ICLEI Action Fund”, explains Anna Hadenius, Director of The Environment and Health Department, City of Stockholm. “As one of a hundred Climate Neutral Cities, the City of Stockholm is determined to foster a good life for all together with its citizens, businesses, and academia. The use of digital tools the selected project offers is essential for the city to achieve climate mitigation and climate adaptation measures as well as to understand how the two are linked. The City of Stockholm looks forward to the fruitful collaboration with academia and civil society in this project.”
To find statements from all six awardees, click here. Read more about the ICLEI Action Fund, including details about the projects that received grants as part of the Action Fund 1.0, here.