Deadline: 15-Oct-20
Local Government NSW (LGNSW) and the NSW Department of Planning, Industry, and Environment (DPIE) will assist councils to increase their resilience and adapt to climate change in NSW by directing financial assistance to address identified climate risks and vulnerabilities.
This partnership program between LGNSW and the NSW Department of Planning, Industry, and Environment (DPIE) provides funding to address climate change risks and vulnerabilities facing NSW councils.
Objectives
IRCC has been established with the following objectives:
- Implementation of treatments for identified climate risks, reducing future climate impacts, and reducing potential liability for local and regional decision-makers.
- Regional and/or sectoral consideration of climate change impacts in decision making
- Implementation of climate change adaptation actions beyond business as usual projects and programs
- Enhanced adaptive capacity through the development of a community of practitioners and resources from across sectors and disciplines with practical experience in implementing adaptation responses across NSW.
Funding Information
- There is a total of $605,000 in funding available in Round 3 of IRCC.
- Grants between $30,000 and $120,000 are available to individual councils and regional groups of councils. Collaboration is encouraged with research institutions, private sector or government agencies, and other organizations, as it strengthens your application.
- A competitive assessment process will be undertaken to determine successful applicants. Projects can last for a maximum of 12 months.
Eligibility Criteria
Grants are open to NSW local government organizations including councils, Regional Organizations of Councils (ROCs), Joint Organizations, County Councils, and other council alliances.
To be eligible for a grant, the proposal must be responding to a previously identified climate change risk or vulnerability. Proposals must cite :
- A climate change risk assessment, meeting Australian standards (AS/NZS 4360 or ISO 31000), conducted in the five years prior to the commencement of IRCC (i.e. completed or updated after November 2013); or
- A climate change vulnerability assessment (peer-reviewed methodology) conducted in the last five years, which includes participation in cross-government Integrated Regional Vulnerability Assessments (IRVAs) or Enabling Regional Adaptation (ERA) projects led by DPIE.
- Provide alternative documentation showing how a climate change risk has been previously identified, that it is still current, and what work has been done to determine the suitability of the proposal as an adaptation project.
Examples of some initiatives eligible for IRCC funding
As described earlier, IRCC will fund projects to implement priority works identified in climate risk/vulnerability assessments. Examples of such initiatives may include but are not limited to:
- Risk treatments for community assets at risk of climate change impacts (e.g. building upgrades to minimize the impacts for vulnerable community members or climate-related degradation).
- Building local or regional capacity to implement adaptive responses (e.g. community engagement programs that build capacity to respond and adapt to extreme weather events).
- Detailed scoping or analysis to support the implementation of priority adaptation actions (e.g. cost-benefit analysis, design specifications).
- Measurement and evaluation of risk treatments or adaptation responses.
For more information, visit https://lgnsw.org.au/increasingresilience
