ICLEI Action Fund made by Google is now available in more cities

A 7 million euro fund made possible by Google.org is available for projects in Barcelona Spain Berlin Germany Glasgow United Kingdom Helsinki Finland Malm Sweden Rome Italy Rotterdam The Netherlands and Stockholm Sweden. Additional cities will be selected in the next couple of weeks. There is a call for projects focused on environmental and climate action with 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 ICLEI Action FundICLEI Action Fund seeks to promote innovative projects that support cities in providing citizens with fair and just access to renewable energy sources, sustainable mobility alternatives, and greener and healthier public spaces. After the success of the first grant, we are optimistic that we will receive high-quality proposals from eligible organisations that use relevant sources of data and green technologies to further smart and sustainable action at the local level, said Wolfgang Teubner, Regional Director Europe of ICLEI.

The ICLEI Action FundICLEI Action Fund is a granting scheme implemented by ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability with support from Google.org to encourage environmental and climate projects that use data from private and public sources. The ICLEI Action FundICLEI Action Fund 1.0 granted 2.5 million EUR to six non-profit and academic organisations in Copenhagen Denmark, Berlin and Hamburg Germany, Nantes France and Birmingham and Oldham UK in May 2020. An additional 2.8 million EUR was provided by Google.org to the ICLEI USAICLEI USA, which totaled almost 10 million EUR in support for data-driven environmental projects.

By 2030, more than 500 cities will be able to reduce carbon emissions by providing local governments with better access to data and technology. We want to empower collaboration with the civil society, which will play a critical role in achieving this goal. Rowan Barnett, Director Google.org, Europe, Middle East Africa, said the new open call aims to build on the success of our first ICLEI Action Fund.

The projects must be aligned with the city's sustainability plans and strategies. Municipalities can get involved in local Action Fund projects as supporters, service providers, sponsors, or partners, and have the chance to receive part of the funding in case of the latter.

By joining Google.org's grant support and ICLEI's network and technical expertise, the ICLEI Action FundICLEI Action Fund will help cities and non-profit organisations to implement innovative, data-driven climate action on the ground, and measure sustainability impacts in the long-term. The selection of the project will be guided by a series of criteria set by a team of sustainability experts within ICLEI Europe.

Google.org also provided support through the form of EUR 237,000 Search advertising to help publicise the Action Fund, cultivate supporters and share valuable climate information with the public.

For more information on eligibility requirements and how to apply before the July 24th, 2022 deadline, visit action-fund.com.