Applications are now open for a Whanganui District Council fund which will support up to 50% of costs for not-for-profit climate action projects.
Council’s climate change advisor, Caroline Arrowsmith says the Community Climate Action Fund will help local people get climate action projects off the ground.
The fund is for projects in the Whanganui district that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions or grow the community’s resilience to the impacts of climate change.
“We’ve all seen increasing stories of extreme weather events,” Ms Arrowsmith says.
“Climate change is becoming less abstract and more of a reality as time goes by and people know we need to act.
“This new fund will give local people the chance to make their climate action ideas a reality – I’m really excited to see the projects that will emerge in our district as a result of having this fund in place.”
She said other councils around the country have implemented similar funds and seen some interesting projects funded as a result.
Groups or individuals can lodge an application for one project per year, up to a maximum of $20,000. The fund has $100,000 to allocate each financial year.
The council’s climate change advisory group – made up of Tangata Whenua and community representatives, subject matter experts and council staff – will decide which projects are funded.
Projects applying to this fund might:
- increase the uptake of active transport, such as walking and cycling
- encourage the efficient use of resources, such as energy, water, waste and materials
- increase the uptake of renewable energy
- support a regenerative food system and farming practices that reduce emissions and/or increase resilience
- enhance ecosystem resilience and nature-based, green infrastructure solutions
- sequester carbon, such as forest or wetland restoration
- help us better understand, prepare for, or respond to the environmental, social, cultural or economic impacts of climate change.
Applications are open until Friday, 25 November.
Funding for this initiative comes from existing funding allocated to climate action in the council’s Long-Term Plan 2021-31.
More information can be found on the Community Climate Action Fund page on the Whanganui District Council website: www.whanganui.govt.nz/climate-fund
