COP26: Green investment grants worth up to £100,000 available to charities

Charities are being urged to bid for grants of between £10,000 and £100,000 to help attract investment in their green projects.

The National Environment Investment Readiness Fund (NEIRF) is offering the grants to support charities in getting support from professional advisors in developing projects, tackling barriers to investment and to present their case to potential investors.

The funding availability coincides with the COP26 climate change conference taking place in Glasgow until the end of this week.

It is hoped the funding will be used to encourage investment in green projects, create revenue to repay investments and produce an investment model that can be scaled up and reproduced.

Typical projects include restoring peatland and woodland, improving water quality and supporting natural flood management initiatives.

Other projects are around preserving mountain, moor, and heathland as well as coastal areas.

The funding is being administered by the Environment Agency on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

Applications opened this week and close on 3 February 2022 and grants are available to charities as well companies, councils and national park authorities.

Bids from partnerships are welcome, according to the Environment Agency.
Councils applying can apply for cost recovery of up to 20% of their staff costs, including organisational overheads and accommodation.

The is the second round of bids within the £10m Fund, with the first round taking place between February and March this year.