Action grant to promote a transition towards greener and climate-resilient cities in the Southern Neighbourhood region.
Main purpose: The global objective of this call for proposals is to contribute to sustainable human development by promoting a transition towards greener and climate-resilient cities in the Southern Neighbourhood, in line with countries’ commitments under the Paris Agreement, and making optimum use of climate finance instruments.
The specific objective(s) of this call for proposals are:
- To improve citizen’s quality of life through the implementation of resource-efficient and low carbon initiatives, with multiplier effects at local level and good replicability potential
- To improve national and local authorities’ capacity to design innovative frameworks and partnerships for the development, implementation and financing of successful climate action at local level (that are both scalable and replicable).
This initiative is relevant for the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It contributes primarily to the progressive achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets 13 on "Climate action" and 11 "Sustainable cities and communities", while also contributing to 5 "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls" and 7 on "Affordable and clean energy".
This call for proposals aims at fostering local integrated approaches that ultimately improve societal cohesion locally, by building partnerships between local authorities, private companies, local investors, NGO’s and the civil society. Municipalities/local authorities, in association with local and/or international NGO’s, and local and/or international private companies/financing institutions, are requested to propose projects based on a secured bankable financing plan, which identifies investors and financial partners whose firm involvement in the project is documented at project’s submission.
Programme: European Neighbourhood Instrument, Reference: EuropeAid/170901/DH/ACT/Multi
Institution: DG International Partnerships
Budget: 19,000,000 (EUR)
Financing type: Action Grants + a dedicated technical assistance established under the EU-funded Clima-MED project. This includes assistance in project and financial management, procurement, monitoring and reporting, communication and dissemination of project results, technical advice and guidance where necessary and assistance in liaising with the European Commission services (EU Delegations and Headquarters).
Who is eligible: The (lead) applicant must be a legal person and be non-profit-making and be a specific type of organisation namely: a non-governmental organisation, a local authority or a local public education, academic or research organisation.
Lead applicants must act with a minimum of two co-applicants and a maximum of three co-applicants.
Proposals need to demonstrate that the EU contribution will trigger additional funding for actions with a climatic objective that include mitigation and/or adaptation measures. Proposals should clearly express how local authorities intend to implement actions, if selected, in an inclusive and participatory manner, taking into account gender considerations.