Funding Available

The call will award up to 10 medium-size grants of up to USD 500,000 each.

Maximum project duration: 24 months.

Funder / Initiative

Global EbA Fund

The Fund is supported through the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and works to create an enabling environment for Ecosystem-based Adaptation. The programme has been operational since 2020 and, as of June 2026, had supported 75 projects across 41 countries.

Overview

The Global EbA Fund is seeking innovative and catalytic proposals that can help overcome the systemic barriers preventing Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) from being adopted, financed, institutionalised and scaled.

The Fund is not looking for conventional, stand-alone field projects. Instead, it is focused on projects that can strengthen the enabling environment around EbA through improved policy and governance, stronger technical capacity, better evidence and data, investment readiness, learning networks and innovative financing approaches.

The call is particularly interested in proposals that can demonstrate how relatively targeted investments can unlock wider institutional change, mobilise additional partners and finance, and create practical evidence that can be replicated across countries or regions.

What Is Ecosystem-based Adaptation?

The opportunity is centred on using ecosystems and nature-based approaches to help vulnerable communities and ecosystems adapt to climate change.

The Fund's previous portfolio covers diverse environments including:

• Coastal and marine areas
• Drylands
• Grasslands
• Forests
• Mountains
• Urban areas
• River basins
• Wetlands. 

Strategic Objectives

The Fund is built around three strategic objectives:

1. Build Awareness and Strengthen Capacity

Support awareness-building, knowledge development and institutional capacity needed to mainstream EbA.

2. Improve Governance and Planning

Address planning and governance gaps within policy and regulatory environments.

3. Increase Access to Sustainable Finance

Expand access to sustainable short- and long-term financing mechanisms for applying and scaling EbA.

Action Pillars

The Fund's work is organised around three action pillars:

• Levers for Catalytic Change – policy and policy instruments, education and capacity building, and financing.
• Functional Data and Science – climate risk and vulnerability assessments, future scenario modelling, traditional knowledge and technologies.
• Innovation and Adaptation – developing unconventional approaches and supporting the integration of EbA in relevant sectors. 

General Track

Strategic Scaling and Global Influence

The general track supports proposals that:

• Address systemic barriers to scaling EbA.
• Strengthen enabling environments.
• Integrate EbA into national frameworks such as NAPs, NDCs, NBSAPs and Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets.
• Pilot transferable adaptation models.
• Establish investment incentives.
• Use innovative financing mechanisms to leverage public and private capital.
• Contribute to global learning and policy dialogue. 

The Fund explicitly does not support business-as-usual activities or stand-alone field implementation projects.

Priority Thematic Areas

Applicants may choose to focus their proposal on one of three thematic areas. Alignment is welcomed but not mandatory, provided that the project aligns with the overall Fund objectives and action pillars.

1. Innovative Finance Solutions for EbA

This theme focuses on addressing the financing barriers that prevent EbA from reaching scale.

Projects may:

• Build stronger climate-finance value chains.
• Develop bankable pathways for existing EbA approaches.
• Create economic models showing the value of EbA.
• Develop sustainable livelihood and income-generation models.
• Attract private capital and blended finance.
• Strengthen the capacity to develop investment-ready pipelines.
• Improve access to global climate funds and multilateral development banks.
• Demonstrate how catalytic EbA investment can unlock larger public and private capital flows. 

2. EbA for Human Development and Security

This theme focuses on the relationship between climate resilience, human development, security and fragility, particularly in fragile or conflict-affected settings.

Proposals should use cross-sector approaches linking:

• Climate adaptation
• Humanitarian action
• Development
• Governance
• Peacebuilding

Projects should identify and address policy, regulatory, financial and awareness barriers to EbA investment in high-risk contexts, while demonstrating how targeted EbA action can reduce vulnerability, protect livelihoods and strengthen social cohesion.

3. Interlinkages for People–Nature–Climate–Land Synergies

This theme addresses fragmentation between:

• Climate adaptation
• Biodiversity conservation
• Land degradation neutrality
• Disaster risk reduction.

Projects should demonstrate how EbA can create practical connections between national commitments, policies, investment and action.

Examples include:

• Joint planning processes
• Cross-ministerial coordination
• Integrated decision-support tools
• Harmonised monitoring systems
• Economic valuation of ecosystem services
• Investment-readiness approaches
• Interoperable monitoring and learning systems. 

Scope of the Call

The Fund is seeking innovative and catalytic proposals that address systemic barriers to EbA scaling by strengthening:

• Institutional and technical capacity.
• Data and evidence generation.
• Learning and knowledge networks.
• Investment readiness.
• Sustainable financing approaches. 

Projects should aim to create an enabling environment for broader EbA uptake and investment, rather than simply delivering a conventional local field intervention.

Expected Outcomes

Successful projects are expected to contribute to:

• Strengthened enabling environments for EbA uptake and investment.
• Increased scaling of EbA implementation.
• Stronger locally led EbA interventions.
• Documented replication pathways.
• Improved technical and institutional capacity.
• Investment-ready concepts and financing strategies. 

Who Can Apply?

The Fund deliberately seeks applicants beyond traditional conservation organisations and encourages new and non-traditional partnerships.

Eligible recipient categories include:

• International NGOs (INGOs)
• Non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
• Community-based organisations (CBOs)
• Indigenous Peoples' Organisations
• Universities and academic institutions
• Research institutes and think tanks
• Private sector companies and specialised organisations working on climate change adaptation. 

This broad applicant base makes the call relevant not only to environmental organisations, but also to research institutions, climate-tech actors, private-sector specialists, community organisations and organisations working at the intersection of adaptation, finance, governance and development.

Local Partnership Requirement

For projects involving country-level activities, the proposal must include one or more local organisations in the consortium.

At least 25% of the project budget must be allocated to local partners, subject to the Fund's standards and due diligence requirements.

These partnerships should demonstrate:

• Capacity transfer.
• Shared decision-making.
• Long-term institutional strengthening.
• Local ownership.
• Knowledge transfer. 

Government entities and IUCN/UNEP offices may participate in consortia, provided they do not receive funding from the Global EbA Fund.

Geographic Eligibility

For projects with a specific country focus, the target country must be eligible for Official Development Assistance (ODA) according to the OECD Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC) list at the time of application.

Regional and multi-country projects are eligible, provided all countries included in the project are ODA-eligible.

What This Means for African Applicants

The call is therefore highly relevant to African organisations, particularly where the proposed project addresses climate adaptation, ecosystems, community resilience, sustainable finance or institutional change in an ODA-eligible African country.

A multi-country African proposal can also be considered, provided every participating project country meets the ODA eligibility requirement.

Consortium / Partnership Requirements

Where the project includes country-level activities:

• At least one local organisation must participate.
• At least 25% of the budget must be allocated to local partners.
• The partnership should have clear capacity-building and knowledge-transfer mechanisms.
• Shared decision-making and local ownership should be demonstrated. 

This is particularly important when an international organisation intends to lead implementation in another country.

Important Limitations

Applicants should carefully distinguish this call from a conventional climate project grant.

The Fund does not support:

• Business-as-usual activities.
• Stand-alone field implementation projects.

Instead, proposals need to address systemic barriers to EbA scaling and demonstrate how the intervention can influence policy, finance, institutions, knowledge, investment or replication.

Projects with country-level activities must also satisfy the local partner and 25% local budget allocation requirement.

Application Process

Applicants should prepare their proposals using the Global EbA Fund application materials and submit them through the online platform.

The Fund recommends that applicants:

• Use the application form for drafting purposes.
• Develop the application offline before entering it into the online submission system.
• Review the Grants Procedures Manual before applying. 

Key Dates

Official Call Launch: 24 August 2026

Application Submission Window:
12 October – 16 November 2026

Applications must be submitted through the online platform.

Click HERE to visit the official website.