Environmental Justice and Climate Resilience Grant Open for Applications
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) is accepting applications for the Environmental Justice and Climate Resilience (EJ4Climate) Grant Program. With supplementary funding provided by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the maximum grant award is $125,000 for this program. Proposals are due by November 14, 2024.
What is the EJ4Climate Grant Program?
This program provides funding directly to community-based organizations and seeks to support environmental justice by facilitating the involvement and empowerment of communities searching for solutions and the development of partnerships to address their environmental and human health vulnerabilities, including those due to climate change impacts. For this grant cycle, the CEC is calling for project proposals that will integrate community-led education programs in support of environmental justice and climate adaptation.
Who is eligible to apply for this program?
Eligible applicants include nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations, civil society groups, environmental groups, community-based associations, faith-based organizations, tribal nations, and Indigenous Peoples and communities. Grantees must be located and projects be implemented in Canada, Mexico, or the United States and only one application per organization per country will be considered.
What are eligible activities for the EJ4Climate Grant Program?
Potential projects supported under this grant program could promote the acquisition of climate adaptation knowledge related to the following themes: extreme weather impacts, transition to clean energy sources, conservation or restoration initiatives, traditional ecological knowledge to address climate change impacts and/or food sovereignty. Priority will be given to projects that significantly integrate formal or informal community-led education programs.
Eligible activities include:
- Hands-on activities;
- Place-based learnings;
- Community-science initiatives;
- Knowledge exchange with elders;
- Training and capacity building,
- Awareness campaigns; and
- Engaging youth as agents of change.
Which communities should EJ4Climate projects prioritize?
The EJ4Climate Grant Program is dedicated to supporting underserved and vulnerable communities, Indigenous communities, low-income communities, and communities with heightened risk and increased sensitivity to climate change.
Successful projects will feature the active involvement and leadership of vulnerable and underserved communities and/or organizations serving these communities, in their design and implementation plans. Selected applicants will also have to demonstrate how they expect their project to have a direct and long-term impact on communities, their well-being and health, local environments and capacities to address and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
What is the funding availability for this project?
The funding availability for this program is $1.5 million with a maximum grant award amount of $175,000 Canadian dollars (CAD), which is approximately $125,000 US Dollars (USD).
The CEC generally supports 10 to 15 projects with a grant (in similar proportions across the three countries).
What is the application and award timeline?
Proposals are due by November 14, 2024 by 5 p.m. EST.
Award notifications are anticipated in March 2025.
Projects will start in April 2025, with a grant duration from 12 to 24 months.
The full Call to Proposals can be found here.
For more information on this grant or how to apply with Morrison’s assistance, please contact the Morrison Grants Team by email at grants@morrisonco.net or call us at 530-893-4764.