AI Climate Grants

HORIZON-CL6-2027-02-FARM2FORK-01 funds digital and AI solutions that help farmers adapt to water and nutrient scarcity, integrating precision agriculture, artificial intelligence, sensors and decision-support systems to optimise irrigation and nutrient management, improve productivity, strengthen climate resilience and reduce environmental impacts. It is a Research and Innovation Action with a total budget of 12 million euros, an expected 6 million euros per project and two projects anticipated, opening 20 April 2027 with a deadline of 23 September 2027. The topic sits squarely at the intersection of the AI agriculture and AI climate adaptation agendas, which makes it a useful target for groups that find themselves falling between agricultural and environmental funding streams. Water and nutrient scarcity is the dominant medium-term constraint on European agricultural productivity, particularly across the Mediterranean basin, and the topic's logic is that the gains now available come less from new sensing hardware than from the decision layer: turning heterogeneous soil, weather, crop and water availability data into irrigation and fertilisation decisions that a farmer can act on under genuine scarcity. For precision agriculture groups the attractive feature relative to the Innovation Action topics in the same call is the 100 percent funding rate for all participants and the lower technology readiness expectation, which together make it feasible to propose genuine methodological work rather than only deployment of existing commercial tools.

The National AI Research Institutes program is NSF's flagship AI investment, funding large multi-institution centers at roughly $20 million each over five years. Co-sponsored by USDA-NIFA and other agencies and companies, the program has repeatedly prioritized AI for agriculture and climate — including precision agriculture, crop improvement, climate resilience, animal welfare, farm safety, and weather forecasting (e.g., the AI-CLIMATE and AI food-systems institutes) — alongside foundational AI themes. New institutes are solicited in periodic competitions under solicitation NSF 23-610, with USDA-NIFA supporting the agriculture- and food-systems-focused institutes.

Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) Investments is sponsored by Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) is a private investment firm backed by Bill Gates that funds businesses focused on clean energy and sustainability innovations. BEV invests in early-stage climate technologies with the potential to reduce or capture greenhouse gases, including areas relevant to AI, climate, and biotech, such as sustainable aviation fuel, thermal batteries, and AI-native physics platforms. While not a traditional grant, it provides significant funding and resources to selected companies.

Microsoft's AI for Earth program awards Azure cloud compute credits to support AI projects addressing environmental challenges. Compute credit grants are tiered at $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000 depending on project scope, focused on four key program areas: agriculture (precision farming, crop monitoring, soil health AI); biodiversity (species detection, habitat mapping, wildlife conservation AI); climate change (emissions modeling, carbon accounting, climate adaptation AI); and water (water quality, drought prediction, watershed health AI). Beyond compute credits, grantees receive machine learning expertise, collaboration with Microsoft Research AI for Good Lab, mentorship, and access to the Microsoft Planetary Computer platform with petabytes of geospatial Earth observation data and APIs. Successful applicants typically have a demonstrated background in environmental science and/or technology, at least one team member with strong technical/ML skills, and are close to or finished with data collection ready for computation and model building. Applications are evaluated on quarterly rolling basis.

The Klarna AI for Climate Resilience Program funds organizations developing practical AI solutions to help vulnerable communities in lower-middle-income countries adapt to climate change. The program supports three categories of projects: (1) harnessing and elevating local knowledge by using AI to organize and analyze community insights into concise, actionable information; (2) developing novel AI applications for climate adaptation in real-world settings such as smartphone-based AI advisory systems for smallholder farmers and AI-powered climate-risk assessments for vulnerable regions; and (3) enhancing existing AI climate solutions through improved adoption, cost-effectiveness, sustainability, or by contributing open datasets and benchmarks. The program is administered through Milkywire and encourages early-stage ideas that need support to refine technical or implementation details. Currently funded projects include disaster resilience and compensation systems, water security and quality improvement using AI, agricultural adaptation and precision irrigation, climate advisory services, environmental data collection, and conservation access. The program represents a significant corporate commitment to deploying AI technology for climate adaptation where it is most needed.

National Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (AI-CLIMATE) is sponsored by National Science Foundation and USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. This institute aims to use artificial intelligence (AI) to create more climate-smart practices that will absorb and store carbon while simultaneously boosting the economy in the agriculture and forestry industries.

DSI Seed Fund Program: Catalyzing Interdisciplinary Research is sponsored by Columbia University - The Data Science Institute. Invests directly in faculty-led research through a competitive Seed Fund Program designed to cultivate new collaborations between data scientists and domain experts, promoting interdisciplinary inquiry aligned with university strategic priorities in AI, climate, mental health, a…

The UNICEF Venture Fund provides up to US$100,000 in equity-free seed funding to early-stage, for-profit technology startups in UNICEF programme countries (developing countries) that are developing solutions to improve the lives of children. The Fund focuses on frontier technologies including data science, machine learning, AI, and blockchain. Specific AI focus areas include using ML/AI techniques to understand the digital world and its dynamics, understanding relationships between variables that impact development indicators (learning, socio-economic, resilience, health), and applying optimization techniques to improve service delivery and resource allocation. The Fund runs multiple thematic open calls throughout the year including Data Science & AI, Climate & Health, FemTech, and Child Online Safety. Startups must be registered in a UNICEF programme country, have a viable working prototype, and commit to open-source licensing. Women-led startups, young founders, and founders from emerging markets are especially encouraged to apply. The UNICEF Venture Fund has invested in over 200 startups across more than 70 countries since 2016.

AI Institute for Climate-Land Interactions, Mitigation, Adaptation, Tradeoffs and Economy (AI-CLIMATE) is sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). This institute leverages AI to create more climate-smart practices that will absorb and store carbon while also boosting the economy in the agriculture and forestry industries. It aims to develop solutions for climate change mitigation and adaptation using AI.

Climate Change AI (CCAI) awards seed grants supporting research, deployment, and the creation of datasets and tools at the intersection of climate change and machine learning. Grants of up to $150,000 fund one-year projects that must leverage AI/ML to address climate change mitigation, adaptation, or climate science, and must include creation of publicly available datasets and tools. Eligible areas span power and energy systems, agriculture and food systems, ecosystems and biodiversity monitoring, disaster management, climate science and modeling, and transportation and urban planning. The program is highly competitive, selecting roughly 12 projects from over 400 submissions worldwide, and has allocated $4.9 million to date.

Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) - Emerging Tech Track is sponsored by Wells Fargo & Company. The Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) supports startups developing innovations across the built environment and infrastructure sectors, including advanced energy technologies. Selected startups receive non-dilutive funding in the form of hands-on technical assistance from the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) scientists. The program aims to validate, refine, and advance solutions, helping founders reduce risk and attract investors. Focus areas include technologies that enhance resiliency, efficiency, and sustainability, which can encompass AI, climate, and biotech applications for a sustainable built environment and infrastructure.

RAI UK Collaboration Grants is a grant from Responsible AI UK (RAI UK) that funds short-term collaborative research projects ensuring AI is deployed safely and responsibly across society. Priority focus areas include AI sustainability and energy demands, AI deployment cost-benefit methodologies, AI skills and public engagement, and AI engineering for dependable systems. Projects may be UK-domestic or international collaborations. Up to £200,000 is available across approximately 10 projects; individual awards are expected up to £20,000, with up to £50,000 available with exceptional justification. Grants are funded at 80% of full economic cost. Eligible lead applicants are UK UKRI-eligible higher education institutions and research organizations.

RCEI Groundwork Grants to Address AI, Climate and Energy is sponsored by Rutgers Climate & Energy Institute (RCEI). These Groundwork Grants support faculty affiliates at Rutgers University in developing research proposals that leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) to address climate and energy challenges. Projects include building open-source models of power grids for AI and energy systems, and advancing AI techniques to improve estimates of air pollution.

Women in Innovation Awards is sponsored by Innovate UK (part of UK Research and Innovation). The Women in Innovation Awards provide grants and a comprehensive 12-month package of support to female entrepreneurs in the UK with innovative, game-changing ideas. The program aims to accelerate the growth of women-led businesses across various sectors, offering funding, tailored business support, training, and networking opportunities.

Amazon Climate Pledge Fund is sponsored by Amazon. A $2 billion venture investment program that supports the development of sustainable technologies and services. The fund invests in companies bringing innovative technology and fresh thinking to the climate change crisis, with a goal of helping Amazon and other companies meet The Climate Pledge (net-zero carbon emissions by 2040). This includes investments in areas relevant to AI climate biotech, such as e-waste, carbon storage, lower-carbon buildings, and sustainable supply chains for EVs.

National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes is sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF) and USDA, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). This program funds the development of new AI Institutes that focus on various themes, including 'AI for Climate-Land Interactions, Mitigation, Adaptation, Tradeoffs and Economy (AI-CLIMATE)' which works on climate-smart agriculture and forestry.