Funding Opportunities

 

 

Resources

ALL REGIONS

 

Global Environmental Fund (GEF) - Small Grants Programme (SGP)

Global Environmental Fund (GEF): The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a family of funds dedicated to confronting biodiversity loss, climate change, pollution, and strains on land and ocean health. Its grants, blended financing, and policy support help developing countries address their biggest environmental priorities and adhere to international environmental conventions.

Small Grants Programme (SGP): The Small Grants Programme is a corporate program of the Global Environment Facility that provides financial and technical support to local civil society and community-based organizations to develop and implement innovative local actions that address global environmental issues, while also improving livelihoods and reducing poverty.

 

ANNOUNCEMENT - Launch of Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF)

 

The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) & Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI)

  • Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI): The Norwegian government launched NICFI in 2008, and the initiative has pledged up to 3 billion NOK a year to save the world’s tropical forests while improving the livelihoods of those who live there. NICFI is administered by the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and the Environment in collaboration with Norad – the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation. The initiative supports bilateral agreements with forest countries, multinational organizations and civil society.
  • Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD): Together with our partners and on behalf of Norway, Norad strives for a greener future in a world without poverty. Human rights must be respected and none left out. By way of knowledge and cooperation, we ensure that the funds of Norwegian development aid contribute to global development.
    • Calls for proposals: Norad grants funding to organisations within civil society, research, higher education and private sector development that work with local partners in developing countries. Here you will find all relevant calls for proposals.
  • NICFI 2021-2025: Call for Proposals, Projects, and Project Periods (DEADLINE CLOSED 2020): NORAD is entering into agreements with 39 organizations as part of Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) for the period of 2021-2025. Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) launched a call for proposals for funding for civil society organisations for the grant period 2021-2025 in January 2020. The deadline was extended to May 19 due to Covid-19. Civil society organizations were invited to present proposals for projects that contribute to NICFI’s strategic goal, which is that reversed and reduced loss of tropical forest contribute to a stable climate, protect biodiversity and enhance sustainable development.

 

International Climate Initiative (IKI)

  • Overview: The activities from IKI projects range, for example, from advising policy makers on capacity building and technology partnerships to risk hedging through innovative financial instruments. It also includes studies, project preparation advice for infrastructure development, and investment instruments for climate change mitigation or biodiversity conservation. To date, IKI has approved more than 950 climate and biodiversity projects in over 150 countries worldwide with a total funding volume of almost 6 billion euros (2008-2022).
  • Find funding:  Current calls are marked in green. In addition, the IKI develops and participates in other major funding programmes and global funds that offer their own funding calls and financial support.    
  • Learn more about the International Climate Initiative (IKI) here.

 

Climate Justice Resilience Fund

Overview: CJRF makes grants that support women, youth, and Indigenous Peoples to create and share their own solutions for climate resilience. CJRF puts people, their rights, and their lived experience directly at the center of climate action.

Climate Justice Resilience Fund Grants:

Learn more about the Climate Justice Resilience Fund here.

 

The Rainforest Fund

Overview: The Rainforest Fund supports programs that cover a range of issues from protection of civil and political rights of Indigenous and tribal peoples, to the promotion and defense of their social, economic, and cultural rights; including the protection of rights to their land and against the destructiveness of resource exploitation.

Country Focus: For over three decades, the Rainforest Fund has been supporting Indigenous and tribal communities in the forests of Papua New Guinea, Brazil, the Philippines, Costa Rica, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Kenya, helping them to defend their rights and protect their environment and land.

Funding Information

2023 Funding Cycle Project Regional Focus:

  • Africa: Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, and Uganda
  • Americas: Brazil, Costa Rica, Panama
  • Asia: Indonesia, Borneo, the Philippines

Learn more about the Rainforest Fund here.

 

Siemenpuu

Overview: Siemenpuu’s mission is to support the work of civil society movements in the Global South advocating for sustainable lifestyles, environmental justice, and local communities’ rights. Siemenpuu supports the work of civil society movements in the Global South advocating for sustainable lifestyles, environmental justice, and local communities’ rights. Support is provided in the form of funding as well as other types of assistance. Siemenpuu engages in communication and advocacy work especially in Finland in order to live out the movements’ visions.

Calls for Project Funding: Siemenpuu does not accept applications outside the published application rounds. Information about the opened calls for concept papers will be published here and in the Current/News section of the website.

Learn more about Siemenpuu here.

 

Rights and Resources Initiative

Overview: Rights and Resources Initiative is a global Coalition of over 150 organizations dedicated to advancing the forestland and resource rights of Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant peoples, local communities, and the women within them. RRI’s mission is to support Indigenous Peoples’, Afro-descendant Peoples’ and local communities’ struggles against marginalization and for sustainable, self-determined development. It does so by promoting greater global commitment and action towards policy, market, and legal reforms that secure their rights to own, control, and benefit from natural resources, especially land and forests.

Country Focus

  • Africa: Liberia, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Regional
  • Asia: Indonesia, India, Nepal, and Southeast Asia
  • Latin America: Regional, Colombia, and Peru

Funding Mechanisms:

 

Pawanka Fund

Overview: Pawanka Fund is an Indigenous led fund making effort supporting Indigenous peoples initiatives engaged in promoting and protecting traditional knowledge, wellbeing, rights and self-determined development. Pawanka responds to the needs of Indigenous peoples building relationships of trust, networking and promoting articulation between local and global processes. We [Pawanka] provide direct support to community led organizations for the recovery and revitalization of Indigenous knowledge and learning systems ins even sociocultural regions of the world including North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa, Arctic, Pacific, and Russia.

Project Funding Information: “The [Pawanka] Fund does not make an open call for proposals and the members of the Guiding Committee work closely with local Indigenous organizations and institutions to support their initiatives in the spirit of partnership and solidarity.”

Previous & Current Pawanka Partners and Grant Cycles

Learn more about Pawanka Fund

 

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Opportunities

Unsolicited Solutions for Locally Led Development (US4LLD): Sustainable and locally driven ideas come from a diversity of organizations around the world. To ensure that these ideas have the opportunity to be considered, Unsolicited Solutions for Locally Led Development (US4LLD) sets aside a portion of its annual budget to provide USAID Missions with funding to support unsolicited applications that advance locally led development in any sector.

 

Tenure Facility

Overview: Tenure Facility works with Indigenous Peoples and local communities across the developing world so they can thrive and expand the sustainable management and protection of their forests and lands. They have two main objectives: customary territories are made more secure by governments in targeted developing countries; and practical approaches for implementing land and forest tenure reforms are shared and leveraged by practitioners and stakeholders to enable greater support and investment in securing land rights

 

Global Forest Watch

Overview: Global Forest Watch (GFW) is an online platform that provides data and tools for monitoring forests. By harnessing cutting-edge technology, GFW allows anyone to access near real-time information about where and how forests are changing the world.

 

International Funders for Indigenous Peoples – IFIP

Overview: IFIP seeks to transform the relationships between the funding world and Indigenous peoples to one of mutual understanding and benefit. Donors and Indigenous leaders are afforded unique opportunities to respectfully learn from one another at our regional meetings and international donor summits. We [IFIP] build capacity for both Indigenous communities seeking support and donors interested in high impact philanthropy.

 

Cultural Survival

Overview: Cultural Survival is an Indigenous-led NGO and U.S. registered non-profit that advocates for Indigenous Peoples’ rights and supports Indigenous communities’ self-determination, cultures, and political resilience, since 1972. For 50 years, Cultural Survival has partnered with Indigenous communities to advance Indigenous Peoples’ rights and cultures worldwide.

  • 2025 Indigenous Community Media Fund: CALL OPEN UNTIL JANUARY 26, 2025
    • Cultural Survival’s Indigenous Community Media Fund (ICMF) promotes partnerships and provides funding to strengthen the infrastructure and transmission systems of Indigenous community media and radio stations, as well as training opportunities for community journalists. Our goal is to improve and ensure the sustainability of community media managed by communities and Indigenous Peoples. Previous projects we have funded include improvements in internal organization and infrastructure, capacity building, systematization of experiences in community radio and media management, promotion of national legislation and policies that uphold the right to Indigenous communication and innovative communication strategies to increase political and community participation. We consider it a priority to fund projects that promote the participation and inclusion of women, other marginalized genders, and young people. This year, we especially seek to support activities related to environmental justice in the face of climate change, including prevention, mitigation, and response to natural disasters.
  • 2025 Call for Indigenous Youth Creatives and Visionaries: CALL CLOSED NOVEMBER 30, 2024
    • Cultural Survival is pleased to announce its 2025 call for proposals for our Indigenous Youth Fellowships to support individuals or groups of young Indigenous communicators, activists, artists, creatives and visionaries to develop their capacities, training, research, production and creation aimed at strengthening their cultural identity and leadership. Youth leadership development is an integral part of ensuring the wellness of communities, and Indigenous youth are the future of that well-being.
  • Keepers of the Earth Fund: CALL CLOSED

 

Climate Funds Update

Overview: Climate Funds Update is an independent website providing information and data on the growing number of multilateral climate finance initiatives designed to help developing countries address the challenges of climate change. Presenting data in one place, Climate Funds Update draws from official fund documentation to give users the opportunity to explore key aspects of climate finance pledged and approved through these funds.