VCA Small Grant Mechanism

THE PROBLEM

The climate crisis hugely affects nature and has a devastating impact on human life – and rights, especially for those living in the global south. This is compounded by the inconsistencies in addressing the challenges of climate change. Notably, a majority of the traditional funds designed to combat the crisis have reproduced structural socio–economic inequalities, rarely reaching the places and people most impacted by climate change. Because of their small size and the informal contexts in which they operate, grassroots groups and organisations cannot meet the bureaucratic requirements set by major international funds, donors and financial institutions. To these traditional funders, these groups are simply invisible. Moreover, some of them cannot operate openly for security reasons, let alone showing a ‘track record’. 

PURPOSE OF THE GRANT

Consequently, the Voices for Just Climate Action alliance set up a small grants mechanism – called the Next Level Grant Facility (NLGF) –  to the value of Euro 3.5 million for its seven implementing countries, namely Bolivia, Brazil, Indonesia, Kenya, Paraguay, Tunisia and Zambia. This grant fosters a bottom-up approach to decision-making, where communities and local allies play a key role in identifying priorities and defining solutions to climate change. These communities are better placed to identify where most needs are, how these can be eased effectively and how natural resources can be managed in a sustainable, just and inclusive manner.  

The grant is divided into emergencies as well as emerging opportunities that contribute to the three pillars of VCA Theory of Change, as shown in the below illustration. 

CLIMATE EMERGENCIES

Types of emergencies include and are not limited to the protection of life and safety, access to decision-making spaces, evidence generation, campaigns and communication, capacity building, legal protection i.e. environmental activists facing harassment and response to natural disasters. The speed and timeliness of fund allocation are crucial for addressing certain emergencies identified by the VCA Regional Teams (RTs). An eligibility criterion helps prioritise resource allocation, ensuring a prompt, effective, and fair response to emergency situations. These emergencies can be addressed through micro-grants that may only require a few hundred dollars. Therefore, no lower limit is set for the grant amount to allow the fund to adapt to the specific needs of potential grantees. Since the  small grants mechanism will often be used for small grants (less than US $5,000) in some countries, simplifying administrative processes is crucial to prevent them from becoming an excessive burden for local partners who will manage the fund.

OPPORTUNITIES

Emerging opportunities include local solutions that are co-created, proposed, designed and led by local communities and that have been endorsed by the scientific/technical community and those using traditional knowledge for their potential impact on climate adaptation and/or mitigation.  An upper limit of the grant is set at Euro $10,000 to cater   such types of projects that require more resources.  

The grassroot communities will test and leverage these climate solutions as evidence and vehicles for financing locally led community initiatives that catalyse achievement and inclusiveness. As an advocacy tool, VCA will engage with public and private finance mechanisms to share lessons learned and evidence that could support changes to climate financing practices for local communities, as well as explore concrete strategies to scale the funded solutions through access to traditional finance. It will also engage with national governments to ensure alignment with national policies and plans and inform their positions in international negotiations. 

GRANTEES

The NLGF targets small informal organisations and movements that do not have the capacity to apply for and report on more formal grants but that represent local rights holders and work on local climate solutions. It also focuses on the hard-to-reach informal groups and individuals (including youth, women, rural, urban, Indigenous groups, and traditional communities) who, by their informal nature of operations, would not normally access the programme’s resources.  

GOVERNANCE

The NLGF is managed at the local level. One VCA alliance partner active in the region (at a national level) selects and contracts a local partner (fund manager) with a strong capacity to administer and monitor the grant.   Each Regional Team agrees on a suitable system for the selection of grantees in the context of their region that reflects an inclusive, fair and transparent decision–making process and outcomes. The fund manager assesses and makes decisions on applications in consultation with relevant parties at the regional level. This enhances local ownership of the fund but also provides the opportunity for local partners to build their experience in managing a small funds programme. International VCA alliance partners on the Joint Programme Team (JPT) and the Steering Committee (SC), provides guidance and support.  The grantees are responsible for executing the projects and reporting through basic offline platforms, photos and videos.