20 Donegal climate action projects are set to share €699,000 in funding.
The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan TD, has welcomed announcements of projects across the country that are receiving funding under the Community Climate Action Programme.
These funds will support a wide variety of organisations, from sports clubs to tidy towns and from local enterprise to arts groups – to pay for climate actions that they feel will improve their communities, save energy and money or support their members.
Donegal is included in Strand 1 of the project, which focuses on building low carbon communities.
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Press release in full –
Hundreds of projects right across the country to receive community climate action funding
€27 million Community Climate Action Programme funding, provided to Local Authorities to partner with community groups, is supporting initiatives like community gardens, solar energy, EV charging, and community composting
The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan TD, has welcomed announcements of the first tranche of projects right across the country that are receiving funding under the Community Climate Action Programme.
The bumper programme comprises a national Climate Action Fund allocation of €24 million and €3 million provided by the Government’s Shared Island Fund to support cross-border and all-island community climate action initiatives. Together these funds will support a wide variety of organisations, from sports clubs to tidy towns and from local enterprise to arts groups – to pay for climate actions that they feel will improve their communities, save energy and money or support their members.
The fund, which is provided to local authorities to partner with community groups, provides amounts of up to €100,000 to larger local projects over an 18-month period. It is paying for initiatives like the installation of renewable energy systems, the development of community gardens, or the installation of EV chargers, bike racks, water refill stations, composting, lighting upgrades or rainwater harvesting to name just a few of its purposes.
Commenting on the allocations, Minister Ryan said:
“Place-based solutions deliver climate actions that really work because they are developed, and underpinned by local authority leadership and community ownership. I’m really excited to see the first projects under this strand of the Community Climate Action Programme announced and look forward to seeing how their development will make these communities more resilient to the impacts of climate change. Importantly, we are also enabling community climate action on a cross-border basis, as part of the Government’s Shared Island initiative.
“In addition to this large-scale funding I have recently launched a community climate engagement fund, to enable organisations to talk about and build greater awareness of actions they are taking and the impact they are having on their community. Every place and every person matters in designing and developing climate solutions that work for communities and make their lives better.
“I’m particularly pleased to see so many of these projects begin their journey during Dublin Climate Action Week, where we can see the true power of community action across a range of events.”
The Community Climate Action Programme consists of two strands: Strand 1, which focuses on building low carbon communities in the State; and Strand 1a, which is funded by the Government’s Shared Island Fund and supports cross-border and all-island projects that contribute to climate and energy targets on the island of Ireland.
To date, 20 Local Authorities have moved into delivery under the programme and are beginning to make announcements across the country.
Further details can be found at: gov – Climate Action Fund (www.gov.ie) or by contacting your local community climate action officer.
