Global Ecosystem-based Adaptation Fund (Small-size grants)

Global Ecosystem-based Adaptation Fund (Small-size grants) is sponsored by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). This fund supports Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) projects worldwide, accelerating innovative and scalable nature-based solutions that strengthen climate resilience, restore ecosystems, and address climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation.

IUCN and UNEP offering USD7. 5 million in grants for Ecosystem-based Adaptation projects - News | IUCN IUCN and UNEP offering USD7.

5 million in grants for Ecosystem-based Adaptation projects Dr. Grethel Aguilar, IUCN Director General, speaking at a High Ministerial Dialogue at UNCCD COP17 on Finance Day On Finance Day at the seventeenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17) in Mongolia, the Global EbA Fund announced up to USD 7. 5 million in new grant funding.

Two Calls for Proposals aim to accelerate innovative, scalable, and investable Nature-based Solutions that strengthen climate resilience and advance ecosystem restoration.

This marks a major expansion of the Fund, with the eighth call for small-size grants and the first-ever call for medium-size grants opening – broadening support for organisations working at the intersection of land, climate and biodiversity and helping to overcome barriers to scaling-up EbA.

Investing in pathways to scale adaptation The launch comes as governments, financial institutions and development partners gather at UNCCD COP17 to address a defining challenge of the decade: mobilising finance at the scale needed to halt land degradation, build drought resilience and advance sustainable development.

Despite growing recognition of the role healthy ecosystems play in helping communities adapt to climate change, investment in EbA remains far below what is needed. Many countries, particularly Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs), face barriers including limited technical capacity, insufficient proven data, fragmented governance and a lack of investment-ready projects.

The Global EbA Fund addresses these upstream barriers by supporting initiatives that strengthen institutions, generate evidence, build learning networks and improve investment readiness. "If we are serious about closing this financing gap, we need to think differently – not only about how much we invest, but what we invest in.

We must invest not only in projects, but in the systems needed to scale successful solutions and unlock and expand impactful investment," said Dr. Grethel Aguilar, Director General, IUCN. "Healthy ecosystems are among our strongest allies in building resilience to climate change, yet investment in adaptation remains far below what is required.

Through the support of Germany, the Global EbA Fund is providing dedicated funding for EbA, working to tackle the systemic barriers that prevent promising solutions from reaching scale, empowering countries and communities to turn ambition into action and deliver lasting benefits for people, nature, and climate," said Martin Krause, Director, Climate Change Division, UN Environment Programme.

Two funding windows to accelerate impact The small-size grants call will award grants of up to USD 250,000 each for projects lasting up to 24 months. The call is open to exceptional proposals from ODA-eligible countries with strong potential to scale EbA, with particular emphasis on SIDS and LDCs and other countries currently underrepresented in the Fund’s portfolio.

Proposals should address barriers to scaling through stronger institutional and technical capacity, improved data and evidence, knowledge exchange and investment-ready approaches aligned with the International Climate Initiative (IKI) Strategy to 2030 . The new medium-size grants call will award grants of up to USD 500,000 each for projects lasting up to 24 months.

The call focuses on unlocking broader systemic change for scaling EbA, with proposals encouraged in three areas: Innovative finance solutions for EbA, including investable business models, stronger climate finance pipelines and mobilisation of public and private investment. EbA for human development and security, supporting climate resilience in fragile and conflict-affected contexts through community-led, conflict-sensitive approaches.

Stronger synergies across climate, biodiversity and land agendas, positioning EbA as a practical mechanism for connecting implementation across the Rio Conventions while generating evidence to inform future policy. Both calls are open to national and international NGOs, community-based organisations, Indigenous Peoples’ organisations, universities, research institutions and private sector organisations, among others.

“To match worsening climate impacts, we need to speed up adaptation efforts worldwide. With these new calls for proposals, we aim to scale nature-based solutions and funding in order to protect communities, ecosystems and economies. EbA holds the potential to tackle multiple challenges like climate change, land degradation and the loss of biodiversity while focussing on the resilience of people and their livelihoods.

” - Ulf Jaeckel, Head of Division, German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN). Submission windows will be open between 28 September and 26 October for the small-size grants call , and between 12 October and 16 November for the medium-size grants call . A series of informative webinars shall accompany the calls.

Since its launch, the Global EbA Fund has launched seven calls for proposals and has awarded grants to 75 projects at various stages of implementation across 41 countries and covering nine ecosystems. It is helping organisations develop innovative approaches that strengthen resilience while generating knowledge, informing policy and creating enabling conditions for scaling EbA worldwide.

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