Up to $80,000 is available to help local communities and businesses prepare for climate change.
Overview
The Victorian Climate Change Grants 2015 are designed to assist local government to deal with the most vulnerable local sectors in adapting to climate change. The grants will also help drive local climate change action including reducing greenhouse gas emissions and making effective and innovative decisions on how to increase resilience of services and assets.
The Victorian Government is committed to working together with local government and their communities to further enable local government to assist their communities and local economies transition to a low carbon future.
Objectives
The Victorian Climate Change Grants 2015 program:
- recognises the benefits of meaningful partnerships between councils;
- facilitates knowledge sharing and implementation of actions and projects that assist communities and local economies to respond to the impacts of climate change; and
- provides local government with the opportunity to help increase community resilience to climate change though the services provided by councils.
The Victorian Climate Change Grants 2015 program is designed to:
- support the most vulnerable to respond to climate change; and
- promote innovation and opportunities in climate change adaptation and mitigation including actions to assist local economies transition to a low carbon future.
Funding
The Victorian Climate Change Grants 2015 program will consist of a competitive round of grants of $20,000 to $80,000 open to all councils and a non-competitive round of grants of up to $10,000 aimed at councils with significant constraints on resources.
Eligible Projects
Projects funded in the Victorian Climate Change Grants 2015 program must fit within one of the two priority streams:
Priority Stream 1 – Supporting the most vulnerable to respond to climate change
This priority funding stream will support projects that are:
- contributing to, or supporting efforts in leading to increased community resilience to climate change, including the most vulnerable places, communities, services and assets;
- addressing climate change challenges to the local business sector;
- implementing measures which ensure that there is consideration of climate change risks to settlements, services and infrastructure (built and natural assets) from climaterelated hazards; and
- sharing learnings and experience around making climate change activities more transparent to drive new partnerships, relationships and coordinated efforts.
Priority Stream 2 – Promoting innovation and opportunities in climate change adaptation and mitigation
The funding under this priority stream will support projects that:
- identify and implement new technologies or approaches to assist communities and local economies to manage climate change and minimise the costs of climate change impacts on society;
- create opportunities for meaningful and diverse jobs to ensure that the changing structure of local economies are designed to be inclusive;
- contribute to the development of climate change tools or instruments that can be suitable for being replicated and/or shared with other councils;
- build upon existing successful climate change action models which have already been trialled and adapting them for local community and/or economy needs; and
- explore opportunities and contribute to carbon mitigation actions to progress business and communities into a low carbon future.
Eligible Applicants
Competitive Category
- Open to all Victorian councils. Partnerships are encouraged but not compulsory.
- There is no limit to the number of councils, organisations, community, education or business groups that may form a partnership project with the council.
- Councils may submit as many applications as they wish in the competitive category, provided each is for a different project.
- Partnership projects must nominate a lead council to take responsibility for the project.
- A minimum of 10% (of the funding request) cash and in-kind contribution from partners. The total “in kind” contribution must be no more than 50% of the total contribution.
- If partnerships are formed, partners will need to provide a brief comment about their involvement in the project.
Non-competitive Category
- Open to resource constrained municipalities (councils that had less than $70m in recurrent expenditure in 2013- 2014 financial year)
- Partnerships may be formed with other councils, local community groups and organisations.
- There is no limit to the number of councils that may form a partnership.
- Only one application per eligible council may be submitted.
- Other organisations can be a partner in the non-competitive category. They will not be eligible, however, for the per-council grant amount.
- No cash or in-kind required.
Timing
Applications close 29 December 2015.
Media Release
The Victorian Climate Change Grants 2015 will support Victoria’s councils as they help their local communities and businesses prepare for climate change and build resilience to the challenges it will create.
Victoria’s local government sector is a critical contributor to addressing climate change and has already made significant progress in driving local action.
The Labor Government recognises the importance of collaboration between state and local governments in addressing climate change and making sure action reflects local needs and priorities.
The grants will assist councils to drive local climate change action including reducing greenhouse gas emissions and making effective and innovative decisions on how to increase resilience of services and assets.
The Victorian Climate Change Grants 2015 consist of a competitive round of grants of between $20,000 and $80,000 open to all councils and a non-competitive round of grants of up to $10,000 specifically for resource-constrained councils.
Applications for the Victorian Climate Change Grants 2015 close on 29 December 2015.
