ABOUT IKI SMALL GRANTS
Strengthening climate and biodiversity action worldwide
The German Federal Government is committed to strengthening climate and biodiversity action worldwide. Through its funding programme, the International Climate Initiative (IKI), it supportsambitious projects on climate change mitigation, adaptation as well as forest and biodiversity conservation internationally. IKI is implemented by the German ministries BMWK, BMUV and AA.
The ministries jointly support approaches that implement and ambitiously develop the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and adaptation goals anchored in the Paris Agreement. This includes measures to conserve and rebuild natural carbon sinks, taking into account environmental, economic and social concerns. The IKI also supports its partner countries in achieving the goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The IKI Small Grants Programme is part of the IKI and commissioned by BMWK, AA and BMUV.
Why IKI ‘Small’ Grants?
Achieving the global and national targets formulated in the Paris Agreement and the CBD requires the active participation of all social groups worldwide, especially on the local and regional level. However, local organisations in ODA-eligible countries often lack access to international funding, or financing mechanisms are not tailored to their specific needs. With the IKI Small Grants programme, founded in 2019, the IKI strategy is extended and reaches out to small regional, national, and local organisations and their decentralized solutions. It is specifically aimed at organisations that already have experience in local project implementation and want to grow further.
Two approaches – one goal
IKI Small Grants comprises two funding lines: International Calls and Funding Institutions, accompanied by extensive Capacity Development measures. Both lines share one common goal: supporting small-scale, local, or regional climate and biodiversity action in ODA-eligible countries.
International Calls seeks to reach projects directly through regular calls for proposals and the provision of direct funding. Over a 7-year period, about 15 million euros will be provided to approximately 120 selected projects.
Funding Institutions cooperates with six national and regional institutions engaged in the area of climate and biodiversity. It provides them with administrative and technical advice and funding of five million euros in total to implement their own calls for proposals and funding lines.
IKI Small Grants is implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. The programme runtime is from 2019 to 2030. GIZ’s IKI Small Grants team in Berlin and GIZ country offices worldwide support the selected organisations through targeted, demand-driven capacity development. This approach aims to strengthen climate and biodiversity actors worldwide and encourages these organisations to accelerate their role as agents of change.