If you have an idea for a local project to tackle climate change, there are a wide range of grants available across the UK to help you. Below is a non-exhaustive list of council, local and national funding opportunities.
Council grants
No council grants for climate change initiatives are available at the moment. Check back here in future for updates.
Local grants
- Community Project Support (Lancashire County Council)
Lancashire County Council's community projects team support projects to strengthen communities and improve wellbeing. They are particularly keen to work with organisations who support: health and wellbeing, improvements to green spaces, food-growing and healthy eating projects, training and development support. - Lancashire County Council 4 Community
Lancashire County Council have launched a new, free-to-use online search tool for grants and funding. This includes help and advice on making a funding application. - Lancashire Climate Action Network (Lancs CAN)
Lancs CAN provides a list of local funding opportunities. -
Sustainability Fund; transforming local communities and environments (Veolia)
The Veolia Sustainability Fund provides in-kind resources, cash sponsorship or staff volunteers for community groups and not-for-profit organisations transform their local community. Successful projects will help to achieve one or more of the following: enhanced biodiversity, promotion of sustainable waster behaviours (reduce, reuse, recycle), protection or preservation of resources and the environment and the projects use of reused, recycled or reclaimed materials. Veolia will favour projects that have long term benefits for the community but will also consider them based on merit. Applications open on 22 May to celebrate International Day for Biological Diversity.
National grants
- Powering our Communities Fund (Electricity North West)
The Powering our Communities Fund is a grant available for local community projects that aim to support a just energy transition, through community involvement in the development and delivery of community energy projects. The projects should demonstrate one or more of the following; activitiy to seed the development of a community energy project, activity to address a specific barrier that is holding back the development of a community project and/or adopting a proven community energy approach or business model in a new community or situation. The deadline for applications is 26 July 2024 at 5pm. - Funding for sports projects which deliver both environmental and physical benefits (Sport England)
Sport England are offering grants of upto £15,000 to support environmental sustainability projects. The projects will support inactive and less active people to get more active, whilst reducing environmental impacts. The key goals of this funding has been separated into 3 areas: reducing energy use, encouraging responsible travel and reducing waste/improving resource efficiency. Funding is available to voluntary community groups, local authorities and charities. There is no deadline, this is an open fund, however 12 weeks notice will be provided if the fund is to close. - Funding to help communities tackle climate change (Climate Action Fund)
Grants of up to £1.5 million are being provided to tackle climate action. This fund is open to organisations who are working in formal partnership across sectors. The partnership should inspire people to take action and influence communities at a regional or national level through linking climate action to everyday life and the interests of local communities. The fund is particularly interested in funding projects involving people, places and communities that are experiencing poverty, discrimination and disadvantage. Applications will be accepted until at least the end of 2024. - Forestry Training Fund (UK Government)
£700,000 in funding is available through the government’s Nature for Climate Fund to cover the cost of short, practical forestry training courses. The fund will cover 100% of the funding for eligible courses which is expected to be between £150- £3,000. Applicants should be interested in working towards a career in forestry, those working in land-based sectors or those who work in the forestry sector. The fund is accepting applications until March 2025. - Energy for Tomorrow (Centrica)
Launched in September, this scheme seeks to fund projects making a difference in the community. They support a range of projects, such as installing an Electric Vehicle (EV) charging point, through to funding transformational energy tools. - Free Trees for Schools and Communities (Woodland Trust)
The Woodland Trust are giving away tree packs to schools and communities. Applicants are able to apply for the following tree packs: hedge, copse, wild harvest, year-round colour, working wood, wild wood, wildlife and urban trees. The scheme is currently taking applications for tree packs to be delivered in November 2024. Applications are due to close August. - Urban Tree Challenge Fund open for new applications (Forestry Commission)
The Urban Tree Challenges Fund is offering 80% grant for the purchase of trees, planting in grass or hard surfaces, the basic cost of protection and the labour required to plant it. The remaining 20% of funding will be covered by the fund recipient. The fund aims to support the planting and establishment of standard trees in urban and peri- urban areas of England. There is a minimum application value of £10,000, to plant trees in 2024-25, application deadlines is 11:59pm on 30 June 2024. - Grant funding to help voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations improve energy efficiency (Groundwork)
The Energy Efficiency Scheme is offering independant energy assessments to help identify energy-saving opportunities in buildings owned or leased by voluntary, community and social eneterprise organisations . From January, the scheme will also be offering grants to fund the installation of any measures recommended through the independant energy assessment. The capital grants will be between £2000 and £150,000. Application deadlines for independant energy assessments are open until August 2024. - Funding to build healthier ecosystems in urban and rural environments (The John Ellerman Foundation)
The John Ellerman Foundation is offering grants of between £10,000 and £50,000 per year for up to 3 years to UK registered charities with an income of between £100,000 and £10m. The funding will prioritise projects that can make a national impact or local initiatives that can be upscaled to a country level. Organisations that are eligible should take an evidence-based approach to improve the natural environment and understand the significance of habitats on both human wellbeing and the impact that people have on nature. There is no deadline to apply for this fund. - Rewilding Innovation Fund (Rewilding Britain)
The Rewilding Britain's 'Rewilding Innovation Fund' is offering up to £15,000 to support rewilding across Britain. The fund aims to support projects that have a high impact on people and nature on land and sea, with a target to remove barriers to rewilding. Applicants must be a member of the Rewilding Network and the project must take place on over 40 hectares of land. Applications are open until 29 Febrauary 2024, however the fund opens to applications twice a year. - Workplace Charging Scheme for state-funded education institutions (UK Government)
A grant for state-funded education institutes to provide support towards the costs of purchase, infrastructure and installation of electric vehicle chargepoints. Applicants can get 75% off the cost to buy and install chargepoints up to a maximum of £2500 per sock and up to 40 sockets across all sites (this includes any applications made previously through the Workplace Charging Scheme). Funding is confirmed until 31 March 2025. - Heat Network Efficiency Scheme Round 7 (UK Government)
The Heat Network Efficiency Scheme (HNES) opened to applicants in February 2023. It is a £32 million grant support programme spanning 2023-2024 (Year 1) and 2024-2025 (Year 2). The scheme will provide funding to public, private and third sector applicants, to support improvements to existing district heating or communal heating projects that are operating sub-optimally and resulting in poor outcomes for customers and operators. Applications will close on 26 July 2024. - Grant funding to restore/improve the built and natural environment (Biffa Award)
The Biffa Award Partnership Grant scheme is accepting expressions of interest for applications of upto £1 million. Projects for the Built Environment theme should restore, modernise, and/or improve facilities such as cultural or visitor centres, whilst projects within the Natural Environment theme should restore and/or improve the environment and the natural systems that support it. Applications should consider environmental sustainability to mitigate the projects impact upon the local environment. This may include employing local trades people, using sustainable materials, reducing energy consumption and reducing the projects carbon footprint both during and after the completion of the project. The deadline for application is midday 31 May 2024. - Funding for small organisations that will make a big impact on communities, people or the environment (Matthew Good Foundation)
The Grants for Good Fund awards £60,000 per year to 20 charitable organisations. Funding is provided every 3 months, 5 shortlisted projects receiving a share of £15,000. The funding is unrestricted and therefore can go towards any of the organisations running costs. The next deadline for applications is 15 June 2024. - Funding to rejuvenate rural community green spaces (DEFRA)
DEFRA has announced a fund of up to £7m to boost access to nature, supporting rural communities across England to get involved in green spaces. Grants of up to £75,000 will be provided to community projects such as see community orchards, kitchen gardens, and natural play areas. The fund is expected to open to applications in summer 2024.
Useful links
- Find a Grant - a service to help you find government grants and check if you are eligible to apply. You can sign up to get alerts when new grants are available.
- My Community - helps you to search for grants to deliver your projects
- Grant Finder - a funding database in the UK covering local, national and international sources of funding
- Energy Saving Trust - list of grants and loans for saving energy
- Community Energy England - a comprehensive list of updated grants for community energy schemes
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Please get in touch if you have any funding opportunities you wish to promote, or to inform us if your project has been successful.