Deadline: 21-Jan-24
The Milkywire has announced the Climate Transformation Fund (CTF) to support solutions with the greatest potential long-term climate impact rather than narrowly focusing on enabling carbon compensation claims.
The Milkywire Climate Transformation Fund (CTF), launched in 2021, is a charitable fund that supports pioneering projects needed to reach global net zero. The level support for each project from 2023’s allocation rounds was typically in the range of 150 000-300 000 USD. It may be higher in 2024. Projects with large needs may receive higher support and vice versa.
Pillars
- Across all pillars, they are looking for projects that directly implement solutions, i.e. marketplaces, MRV-providers, apps etc are outside of scope.
- Durable carbon removal
- Helping remove CO₂ from the atmosphere through carbon removal with durable long-term storage.
- CCS/CCU and carbon storage with an insecure or short storage time are not included in this pillar (nature restoration and protection projects are supported in a separate pillar).
- They want to deploy funds catalytically, meaning they are not just looking at high-quality projects but also favour projects where their support can make the most difference. They are looking to both, support the testing of early-stage technologies not yet proven at scale, and help scale more mature solutions (e.g. biochar) through supporting sustainable, high-quality projects. They are especially interested in projects that help broaden the CDR ecosystem and complement the 13 CDR projects they have supported so far.
- They are looking to make pre-purchases of carbon removal with partial or full payments and do not have the ability to sign longer offtake agreements, although delivery of the removal credits can occur over several years.
- Nature restoration and protection
- Nature-based solutions implemented by non-profit organizations that help to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change, such as afforestation, reforestation, forest preservation, restoration of degraded lands, wetlands, mangroves, and beyond.
- They have thus far supported seven projects in this pillar and many of them have further funding needs to continue to drive impact. Consequently, the bulk of this year’s funding in this pillar will go to existing partners. They do however have resources to potentially support an additional 1-2 projects, if they receive strong proposals.
- In particular, they are interested in innovative projects that have a clear roadmap to becoming self-sustaining or to be replicated at scale. In addition to reducing emissions and absorbing CO₂, projects should ideally:
- help to conserve biodiversity-rich ecosystems
- provide synergetic benefits for local communities, for example, poverty alleviation or improved agricultural practices
- be planned and implemented with an equity-first approach, putting decision-making in the local populations’ hands
- Emission reduction
- Supporting high-impact projects implemented by non-profit organizations that help to avoid or reduce emissions, as well as supporting policy advocacy projects that fight for climate policy change.
- Directly emissions:
- In this category, they aim to support effective projects that directly reduce emissions but do not yet have a business model to happen independently of climate impact finance. For example, building renewable energy to replace fossil fuels in remote locations; or supporting startups and entrepreneurs in the field of green energy transition, green mobility, and beyond. They prioritize innovative projects with the potential to lead to bigger change,become self-sustaining and/or replicated.
- Policy & advocacy:
- They believe that effective organizations that advocate for change in climate policy can be orders of magnitude more cost-effective than other climate solutions. They, therefore, aim to support effective, professional non-profit organizations in developing and advocating for climate solutions. This can, for example, be projects advocating for fossil fuels phase out, supporting policy dialogues on the energy transition and other climate issues, and projects advocating for further support of R&D and research of climate solutions.
- They have supported nine projects in this pillar so farand many of them have further funding needs to continue to drive impact. Consequently the bulk of this year’s funding in this pillar will go to existing partners. They however are open to add an additional 1-2 projects if they find the right fit. They do however have resources to potentially support an additional 1-2 projects, if they receive strong proposals and are especially interested in finding strong avoided emissions projects with catalytic potential.
- Durable carbon removal
Criteria
- Restoring and protecting nature
- They will support screened and vetted organizations that preserve forests and ecosystems and restore degraded areas. This helps reduce emissions, absorb CO₂ and conserve their nature globally. See projects supported here.
- Requirements:
- Projects either protecting or increasing carbon stocks in nature.
- Organization is screened and vetted by Milkywire or a third party.
- Sustainable from a social and local environmental perspective. The deployment of the project does not cause harm to people or local ecosystems.
- Criteria:
- Co-benefits. Projects are given a higher priority if they create benefits for people in poverty, or if they help ecosystems in other ways beyond storing more carbon.
- Catalytic effect of donation. They prefer projects that be replicated, spread to new communities, or help create new innovative solutions.
- Permanent carbon removal solutions
- To stop the climate crisis, they must cut CO₂ emissions in half over the next 10 years and then bring them close to zero. But science shows that emissions reductions won’t be enough to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Therefore, they must also remove excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it permanently. By supporting new ways of removing and storing carbon, they contribute to these methods developing and becoming cheaper for others to implement.
- For methods where there is no supply of carbon removal certificates they will also consider supporting research, helping new methods prove its concept and become operational.
- Requirements:
- Happening now, the CO₂ is captured in the coming year(s), not decades from now.
- High additionality, the tonnes removed wouldn’t happen without someone paying for it.
- Sustainable from a social and local environmental perspective. The deployment of the project does not cause harm to people or local ecosystems.
- Criteria:
- Potential. The method has the potential to become a large part of the solution to the climate crisis.
- A catalytic effect. Their donation or purchase of removal certificates leads to a larger growth of the method than just the tonnes that they purchase.
- Durability (permanence). The CO₂ should ideally be stored away for hundreds or thousands of years.
- Certainty of the project happening as agreed.
- Co-benefits. Projects are given a higher priority if they create benefits for people in poverty, or if they help ecosystems in other ways beyond storing more carbon.
- When credits or certificates are bought they will be retired, which means they cannot be resold and will not be counted as a financial instrument.
- Decarbonization/Getting off fossil fuels
- They will support effective projects that reduce emissions but are not profitable enough to happen on their own, this can for example be building renewable energy to replace fossil fuels in remote locations. They will also support civil society organizations that are effective in advancing efforts to accelerate the phase-out of fossil fuels.
- Requirements and Criteria:
- Renewable energy
- Requirements:
- Sustainable from a social and local environmental perspective. The deployment of the project does not cause harm to people or local ecosystems.
- Vetted by a third party, or certified.
- Criteria:
- High additionality. They want to support projects that are unlikely to happen without their support, (it is for example unlikely they would support a project if similar projects are happening without donations or sale of carbon credits).
- Catalytic effect. Potential of the type of solution to scale and create impact outside of the project boundaries (for example by being a first of kind project for a new solution).
- Co-benefits. Projects are given a higher priority if they create benefits for people in poverty, or if they help ecosystems in other ways beyond storing more carbon.
- Projects for policy change
- Requirements:
- They get to earmark the donation to a specific project or stream of work rather than giving general funds to the organization.
- Organization is screened and vetted by Milkywire or a third party.
- Criteria:
- Potential effect of the policy proposals advocated for by the organization.
- Track-record of organization in bringing about concrete policy change.
- Chance of the project happening without the donation (lower chance, higher grade).
For more information, visit Milkywire.
