In Europe 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. The call is open to 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.
ICLEI Action Fund wants to encourage 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 round of grants, 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 Fund is a granting scheme implemented by ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability with the support of Google.org to encourage environmental and climate projects that use data from private and public sources. In May 2020 in Europe, the ICLEI 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. This new round of applications is called the ICLEI Action Fund 2.0, which strengthens both ICLEI Europe and Google.org's commitments to build more sustainable cities through technology and innovation. An additional 2.8 million EUR has been provided by Google.org to the ICLEI USA, totaling more than 10 million EUR in support for data-driven environmental projects.
Google is committed to helping more than 500 cities reduce one gigatonne of carbon emissions annually by 2030, by giving local governments access to data and technology. We want to empower collaboration with the civil society, which will play a critical role in achieving this goal. The new open call aims to build on the success of our first ICLEI Action Fund, helping to design, build, and operate more sustainable or regenerative cities, said Rowan Barnett, Director of Google.org, Europe, Middle East Africa.
The projects must be aligned with the city's sustainability plans and strategies. As supporters, service providers, sponsors or partners, the chance to receive part of the funding is provided by the local Action Fund projects.
By joining Google.org's grant support and ICLEI's network and technical expertise, the ICLEI Action Fund will continue to help cities and non-profit organisations 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 has also provided support in the form of EUR 237,000 Search advertising to help publicise the Action Fund, cultivate supporters and share valuable climate information with the public.
To find out more about eligibility requirements and how to apply before the July 24th, 2022 deadline, visit action-fund.com.