EU announces “Climate Change champions” Program for South African CSOs

Deadline: 10 February 2020

The European Union (EU) is currently accepting proposals from eligible organizations for a program entitled “Climate Change champions”.

Objectives of the Programme and Priority Issues

The global objective of this call for proposals is: to enable South African Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to engage as actors of governance and development at country level in line with the objectives identified in the 2012 EU Communication on Civil Society in external relations:

• To enhance efforts to promote a conducive environment for CSOs in partner countries;
• To promote a meaningful and structured participation of CSOs in domestic policies of partner countries;
• To increase local CSOs’ capacity to perform their roles as independent development actors more effectively.

The call intends to tackle climate change while enhancing gender equality and participation of the youth and encourages innovative partnerships with the double objective of leaving no-one behind and leveraging the strengths of different stakeholders.

The specific objective of this call for proposals is to increase the participation of South African CSOs in tackling climate change: mitigating greenhouse gases emissions and adapting to its adverse effects.

The EU has a long-term commitment to step up its international efforts to tackle climate change and support partners in implementing their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. Environment and climate policies and strategies are areas where CSOs are major players as advocates of ambitious measures; providers of expertise and support to local action; contributors to dialogue mechanisms; and monitors of progress on the ground.

The expected result of this call for proposals is: Strengthened CSOs’ capacities and engagement on climate change mitigation and adaptation.

The specific priorities of this call for proposals are:

• South African civil society is motivated and actively involved in tackling climate change
• South African citizens meaningfully participate in climate change governance, accountability and public policy processes
• Civil society is actively and effectively involved in supporting South Africa’s NDCs

Size of Grants

Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:

• Minimum amount: EUR 300.000
• Maximum amount: EUR 700.000

Location

Actions must take place in South Africa.

Duration

The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 36 months nor exceed 60 months.

Eligibility Criteria

• Lead applicant: In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
  • be a legal person
  • be non-profit-making
  • be a civil society organisation
  • be established in South Africa
  • be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary
• Co-applicant(s)
  • The participation of co-applicants is obligatory for this call for proposals. Partnerships must include at least two parties the lead applicant and co-applicant. There is no upper limit to the number of co-applicants in a partnership. Multi-stakeholder approaches, innovative partnerships and partnership including “non-usual” stakeholders are encouraged.
  • Each member of a partnership must have a precise and clearly identified role in the implementation of the project. There is no upper limit on the number of members in a partnership. A partnership should be composed in such a way as to allow the achievement of the project objectives in the most effective and cost-efficient manner.
  • The role of each member of the partnership must be clearly explained in the proposal. It is strongly recommended that the applicant and its co-applicant(s) draw up an agreement defining their partnership as well as their respective technical and financial roles and obligations. A clear allocation of responsibilities and costs will contribute to the partnership’s success
  • Co-applicants participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the lead applicant.
  • Co-applicants must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself.
• Affiliated entity(ies)
  • The lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) may act with affiliated entity(ies).
  • Only the following entities may be considered as affiliated entities to the lead applicant and/or to co-applicant(s):
    • Only entities having a structural link with the applicants (i.e. the lead applicant or a co-applicant), in particular a legal or capital link.
    • This structural link encompasses mainly two notions:
      • Control, as defined in Directive 2013/34/EU on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings:
        • Entities affiliated to an applicant may hence be:
          • Entities directly or indirectly controlled by the applicant (daughter companies or first-tier subsidiaries). They may also be entities controlled by an entity controlled by the applicant (granddaughter companies or second-tier subsidiaries) and the same applies to further tiers of control;
          • Entities directly or indirectly controlling the applicant (parent companies). Likewise, they may be entities controlling an entity controlling the applicant;
          • Entities under the same direct or indirect control as the applicant (sister companies).
        • Membership, i.e. the applicant is legally defined as a e.g. network, federation, association in which the proposed affiliated entities also participate or the applicant participates in the same entity (e.g. network, federation, association,…) as the proposed affiliated entities.

For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2rW5lAl and download the guidelines.