Community Climate Action Programme
Phase 1
Phase 1 of the Community Climate Action Programme has seen 28 projects awarded funding through Strand 1 and 1a, totalling over €1.1m worth of climate investment.
A range of community organisations, from sports clubs to scouts, and charities to social enterprises have been supported to take climate action that has impact.
The projects are emblematic of the many faces of climate action. Work will include changing the energy use of facilities from fossil-fuel based sources, like oil and gas, to renewable sources like solar. The insulation of buildings to keep the heat we make is also featured, as is action to support the better management of our resources, by improving how communities deal with waste. Projects also seek to promote active travel, by providing facilities for bikes and scooters, thus helping to reduce journeys made by car, in addition to the provision and reimagining of local green spaces.
With funding coming from the national Climate Action Fund, these local community projects form a crucial part of the ongoing climate action response.
Mayor of South Dublin County Council, Councillor Baby Pereppadan said:
“Climate action is of critical importance, and it is great to see the first set of community climate action projects now move towards delivery in South Dublin. The projects take action against both the causes of climate change and its impacts and are showing us the way forward. I want to commend everyone’s efforts in seeking to take positive action against climate change”.
Welcoming the projects, Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan said:
“I am delighted to support these vital local projects under the Community Climate Action Programme, a landmark fund which is making €24 million available to climate action projects across Ireland, alongside a €3 million contribution from the government’s Shared Island Fund. Communities and Local Authorities know best the climate actions that work for their area and can deliver the most effective climate solutions on the ground. I look forward to seeing the transformative effect these projects will have not only in tackling climate change, but in making our cities, towns and villages better places to live and work.”
A full list of the phase 1 projects can be viewed here.
Case studies of individual projects and their impacts will be collated here in due course.
Phase 2
Provision has been made for Phase 2 of the Community Climate Action Programme by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.
There is no launch date confirmed as yet but please register your interest in phase 2 with your Community Climate Action Officer at climatechange@sdublincoco.ie
Aims of the Programme
Ireland is aiming to become a climate neutral economy and resilient society by 2050. To achieve a climate neutral economy, it is about dramatically reducing the amount of greenhouse gases that we release into the atmosphere. To achieve a resilient society, we need to adapt our communities to be better prepared to face the impacts of climate change, for example flooding or heat.
The overall objective of the Programme is to support and empower communities, in partnership with SDCC, to shape and build low carbon, sustainable communities in a considered and structured way to contribute to national climate and energy targets.
Key Impacts that can be supported include:
- Increasing the production, or use, of renewable energy
- Improving energy efficiency
- Increasing climate resilience (helping us to live alongside the impacts of climate change)
- Identifying nature-based projects that enhance biodiversity and seek to reduce, or increase the removal of, greenhouse gas emissions or support climate resilience
- Assisting regions in the State (including communities in those regions) and within sectors of the economy impacted by the transition to a low carbon economy
- Involving potentially innovative solutions to address the above asks.
- Having the ability to be scaled up or replicated in other communities post funding.
Projects can consider across a range of themes, for example (but not limited to): Energy, Travel, Food, Waste, Circular Economy, Resource Use, Nature-Based & Green Solutions.
How it Works
The Community Climate Action Programme has two strands, strand 1 and strand 1a.
Strand 1 - For Local Community Climate Projects carried out in South Dublin by local groups
The maximum grant is €100,000.
Strand 1a - For All-Island Community Climate Projects with Local Impact
In addition, a total of €3 million was provided by the Government’s Shared Island Fund to support cross-border and all-island community climate action initiatives as an integrated part of the Community Climate Action Programme.
Strand 1a projects must have a clear North/South basis, with a cross-border partnership approach and impact. At least 50% of awarded funding will be for project delivery in Northern Ireland. Strand 1a enables community groups in South Dublin and SDCC to propose a cross-border project in partnership with organisations in Northern Ireland. The €3 million Shared Island Fund resourcing is not pre-allocated to individual local authorities in the Republic such as SDCC. Instead, all local authorities in this jurisdiction could assess an application received under strand 1a and make a recommendation for funding to the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.
Eligibility (Subject to Change for Phase 2)
Community organisations must meet the following criteria to apply:
- must be a not-for-profit community group / organisation with Articles of Association or a Constitution, which hold an AGM, and for which approved minutes are available, located in the operational area of South Dublin County Council, proposing a project that has local impact and where the community has access to the project.
For clarity, the following entities are not eligible to apply to:
- Private individuals;
- Commercial undertakings (including sole traders);
- School and educational organisations.
Taking Action on Climate Change
What is Climate Change
While weather is what we experience over a short period of time, for example days and hours, climate is the average pattern of weather you might expect over decades. Through human activities, Ireland, along with the rest of the world, has warmed by 1.1 °C above the 1850-1900 average[1]. A change of 1.1 °C is significant because it takes a huge amount of warming to change this long term average.
Understanding Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions
The systems that we interact with everyday, our buildings, the electricity network, our modes of transport, our food and waste systems, and the systems that produce the goods and services that we buy have all been built on practices that release greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when we use them.
Greenhouse gas emissions are invisible gases – namely, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases - that, when released into our atmosphere, trap heat, acting like a blanket. This has caused the 1.1 °C of warming since 1850-1900.
[1] Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC’s) Working Group I Sixth Assessment Report
The Privacy Statement for the Community Climate Action Programme can be viewed here.
The Climate Action Fund Guidelines can be viewed here.
The Circular 13/2014 on the Management of and Accountability for Grants from Exchequer Funds can be viewed here.
