Country Road Climate Fund in Australia

Deadline: 1-Dec-22

The Country Road has launched the applications for Climate Fund is a climate impact grants program aimed at accelerating and incubating positive climate projects, programs, initiatives, products or organisations (collectively described as ‘projects’) across the Australian fashion industry.

The Country Road Climate Fund is split into the Incubator Program and the Accelerator Program. Projects can apply to either, but not both, of these programs.

Objectives

The Country Road Climate Fund is an annual climate impact grants program aimed at accelerating and incubating positive climate projects, programs, initiatives, products or organisations (‘projects’) across the Australian fashion industry.
The Country Road Climate Fund was created as part of Country Road’s responsible business journey which strives to drive positive change across climate, nature, and community within their own operations, and also through building positive outcomes in their value chain and beyond.
They recognise that the fashion industry is a direct and indirect contributor to the climate crisis. While there are many existing and innovative climate fashion solutions, many of these solutions lack the finance to be developed or deployed across the fashion industry. The aim of the Country Road Climate Fund is to bridge this financing gap by investing in, incubating and accelerating climate solutions in the Australian fashion industry.

Investment Themes

Climate focus: The Country Road Climate Fund’s primary mandate is to invest in projects which have a positive climate impact (i.e. the project directly or indirectly reduces greenhouse gas emissions or supports the enablement of such reductions). For example, a project that improves energy efficiency in the production of textiles may directly reduce greenhouse gases. A project that provides consumers with accurate data on the emissions intensity of different fashion items may enable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through encouraging more sustainable fashion choices.
Sub-themes: The Country Road Climate Fund recognises that climate outcomes can be achieved through nature-based, circular, First Nations-led and innovative solutions. Therefore, the Fund is also targeted at investing in projects which align with one or more of the following sub-themes:
- Biodiversity – Protecting or restoring nature and biodiversity (for example, a conservation project on a wool farm aimed at improving the state of biodiversity)
- Circularity – Reimagining the textile life cycle from a take, make and dispose mindset to one which redefines the value of waste, keeping existing resources in use for as long as possible (for example, a project that enables garment renewal or on-shore textile recycling)
- First Nations – Led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities (for example, a First Nations organisation working with local cotton farmers to implement traditional land management practices that drive positive climate outcomes)
- Innovation – Unique, disruptive, and game-changing technologies and ideas shifting the face of the fashion industry (for example, a technology that dramatically improves the carbon footprint of finishing or dyeing techniques)

Co-Benefits

Alongside alignment with the Country Road Climate Fund’s primary climate theme and sub-themes, projects which demonstrate strong co-benefits will be strongly preferred. This includes projects which promote the following co-benefits:
- Provenance, accountability, and transparency
- Industry collaboration.

Scope

The Country Road Climate Fund is bound by the following parameters:
- Australian-focused: In the Country Road Climate Fund’s first year, Country Road will be funding projects operating from within Australia.
- Fashion value chain: The Country Road Climate Fund is aimed at providing funding to projects situated within the fashion value chain. Eligible projects may be within or have the potential to come within Country Road’s own value chain. Projects which are focused on generating positive climate impacts within the raw materials production, materials processing and manufacturing stages of the fashion value chain will be prioritised. This is to account for the disproportionate amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated throughout these stages.

Funding Information

The indicative maximum grant amount under the Incubator Program in year one is AU$30,000 and under the Accelerator Program the indicative maximum grant amount is AU$200,000.