Increasing Resilience to Climate Change Community Grants Program

This program aims to provide funding for local communities to address climate change impacts in their region.

The objectives of the program are to:
- Identify and support practical projects focused on reducing climate change impacts with clear community benefit.
- Foster partnerships between community groups and regional stakeholders that will increase resilience to climate change impacts.
- Generate and share lessons on best practice approaches to community adaptation.

Grants between $10,000 to $30,000 are available.

A total funding pool of $600,000 is available.

Eligible applicants include local community groups that must:
- Be or be partnered with an incorporated body, cooperative or association (including business associations).
- Be financially solvent.
- Have a current ABN.
- Demonstrate a clear capacity to deliver the project in the local area, within NSW.
- Submit a case study on completion of the project, noting measurable outcomes (e.g. number of citizens affected/benefited from project).
- Be primarily for unrestricted public benefit, not private benefit.

More than one application can be submitted per organisation/group.

Please refer to the Guidelines for the complete eligibility requirements.

Eligible projects include those that:
1. Building Adaptive Capacity
- Strengthen climate change knowledge and leadership among individuals and communities.
- Create a network of stakeholders to share climate change adaptation knowledge and lessons learned.
- Build knowledge of climate hazards, help community assess potential impacts on households, business and local communities, and identify actions that individuals and communities can take.
- Promote and share knowledge on community resilience to climate change impacts.

2. Delivering Adaptation Action
- Prevent, mitigate or reduce exposure to identified climate impacts in their local area.
- Increase resilience to changing climate conditions (e.g. more resilient revegetation techniques or improved community management of heatwave or extreme weather events).
- Pilot engaging in a new activity or changing practices to take advantage of changing climatic conditions.
- Demonstrate opportunities for adaptation and mitigation co-benefits (e.g. green wall/roofing, shading or green canopy).

The main assessment criteria include:
- Project builds adaptive capacity and builds knowledge of climate change and adaptation action to increase resilience to current or future climate change impacts within the community. (40%)
- Project demonstrates best practice adaptation outcomes that are clear and will deliver tangible benefits to the community and/or region: addresses climate change impacts referenced in an NSW Regional Climate Change Snapshot or equivalent Local or State Government climate risk management documentation. (20%)
- Project delivers cost effective adaptation action(s) with outcomes that are clear and will deliver tangible benefits to the community and/or region. (20%)
- Project engages local and/or regional stakeholders and encourages shared learning and partnerships within the region. (20%)

The following are ineligible for funding:
- Individuals.
- Federal and State government agencies.
- Local government where they are the lead organisation.
- Projects or activities located outside the State of NSW.
- For-profit organisations, including small business.
- Solely for private/individual gain.
- Applications that seek support for supplementing, increasing or continuing business as usual of the organisation.
- Applications that request recurrent/ongoing program funding.
- Projects that duplicate existing services.

Please refer to the Guidelines for the complete list of restrictions.