SERVICES
The Community Climate Action Fund is now closed, phase 2 of the fund will open at a later date.
The Community Climate Action Programme is a new programme to support small and large, rural and urban communities to take climate action at a local level. Monaghan County Council is delighted to welcome the announcement by the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications of a new Community Climate Action Fund, which will become available to support communities to promote and assist in the scale up of community climate action.
The overall objective of the programme is to shape and build low carbon, sustainable communities in a coherent way to contribute to national climate and energy targets.
There are two strands:
Strand 1- Action: Building Low Carbon Communities:
Monaghan County have been given an allocation of €392,000 for projects under strand 1. Under this scheme communities will carry out projects that have a direct climate action impact.
Strand 1a- Shared Island Community Climate Action:
This strand has a national budget of €3 million to enable communities and local authorities to carry out a cross-border project in partnership with a community in Northern Ireland. Unlike strand 1, Local Authorities have not been automatically allocated funding under strand 1a and is open for all communities to apply.
What groups are eligible?
Eligible community organisations must:
- Be not-for-profit.
- Be located within the boundaries of Monaghan County.
- Be registered with the Monaghan PPN or be connected with other collectives such as The Wheel, Tidy Towns, or be a community group with Articles of Association, which hold an AGM with appropriately approved minutes.
Project themes
Projects must demonstrate the delivery of national climate action at a local level for strand 1 and on a cross-border basis on the island of Ireland for strand 1a. There are five programme themes and communities should try to incorporate as many themes as possible. The themes are:
- Community energy
- Travel
- Food & waste
- Shopping & recycling
- Local climate & environmental action
What groups are eligible?
Eligible community organizations must:
- Be not for profit
- Located within the boundaries of County Monaghan
- Be registered with the PPN or connected with other collectives such as The Wheel, Tidy Towns or be a community group with Articles of Association, which hold an AGM with appropriately approved minutes.
Projects eligible for funding
The types of projects within communities which are eligible for funding under the Programme, should seek to demonstrate the delivery of national climate action at local level by:
a) Reducing or supporting the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
b) Increasing the production, or use, of renewable energy
c) Improving energy efficiency
d) Increasing climate resilience
e) Identifying nature-based projects that enhance biodiversity and seek to reduce, or increase the removal of, greenhouse gas emissions or support climate resilience in the State
f) Involving potentially innovative solutions to address the above asks.
Furthermore:
a) Projects must meet the objective “to shape and build low carbon, sustainable communities in a coherent way to contribute to national climate and energy targets.”
b) Project must address one or more of the five programme themes, as set out below.
c) Projects must comply with all statutory requirements in relation to planning, building regulations, Health and Safety, and Fire Codes etc., if applicable.
d) Community groups must be able to demonstrate their ability to carry out the proposed works.
Project funding scales
Funding is available for 100% vouched expenditure of the project and there are three project sizes eligible:
- Small scale projects < €20,000
- Medium scale projects €20,000 to €50,000
- Large scale projects €50,000 to €100,000
How does the programme work?
Several projects will be selected which demonstrate climate action at a local level in Monaghan. Local communities will be selected following an Application phase and will carry-out their direct climate action projects over 18 months. Projects can include a suite of measures, not just one specific action.
The Community Climate Action Fund is now closed, phase 2 of the fund will open at a later date.
Documents and Resources
“Briefing note and Guideline Document of Community Climate Action Fund
Examples of Community Climate Action Projects
Planning Your Project And Applying For Funding
Community Climate Action Fund High Level Overview
Contact details