Funding

The Tribal Climate Change Funding Guide is intended to provide up-to-date information on grants, programs and plans that may assist tribes in addressing climate change through a broad range of sectors. We will update this guide regularly, so please check back often. If you have questions or updates for this guide, email: kathy@uoregon.edu. Please note that for entries that are accepting applications continuously, the grant deadline column will list "12/31/2024" as the grant deadline. This ensures that those grants will appear immediately after those grants with a set deadline.

Title Organization Sort descending Grant Deadline Description Funding Amount Geography Website
Bullitt Foundation NGO

Most Recent Deadline: 9/15/2021. Grant inquiries are accepted twice a year on March 15th and September 15th and full proposals invited for final submission by May 1st and November 1st, the next deadline for the Spring Docket is September 15, 2019. See website for more details. Note that individual grants offered by the foundation may have differing deadlines. The mission of the Bullitt Foundation is to protect the natural environment through promotion of responsible human activities and sustainable development in the Pacific Northeast. The foundations program areas include Ecosystem Services; Energy, Industry, and Technology; Urban Ecology; and Leadership and Civic Engagement. Grant applicants must submit a letter of inquiry online. If accepted, the applicant will be invited to submit a full proposal for evaluation. Please note that letters of inquiry are due 9/15/2019, with full applications being due 11/1/201.

Categories: Development, Conservation, Regional Ecosystem Health, Deep Green Buildings, Resilient Cities, Healthy Communities, Energy, Climate and Materials

Past grants have ranged from $2,000-$75,000 Northwest, Oregon, Idaho, British Colombia, western Montana, and Alaska (from the Cook Inlet to the Canadian border) Link
Climate Solutions University NGO

Applications accepted throughout the year. CSU aids local rural communities, connected through a peer learning network, by offering training, expertise, and support in climate adaptation planning. Through this training, expertise, and support, CSU strengthens local leadership, public engagement, and ecosystem protection efforts in rural communities.

Categories: Adaptation

Each participating community receives $100K in training, mentoring, and access to tools/resources Northwest, Southwest, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, National, Alaska Link
Indigenous Voices Fund NGO 12/31/2024

Rolling Deadline. Alaska Conservation Foundation’s Indigenous Fund (previously called the Travel Fund) supports conservation organizations on the ground addressing critical conservation issues. The current focus of the Indigenous Voices Fund is protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Bristol Bay, the Tongass National Forest, and efforts to prevent hardrock mining across Alaska. The Indigenous Fund enables key staff to travel to hearings, testify in front of decision-makers, and reach important audiences that require travel to/from Alaska, including rural Alaska, as well as Washington DC.

Categories: Environmental Justice, travel

Varies Alaska Link
Hewlett Foundation Grants NGO

Applications Accepted Continuously. The Hewlett Foundation’s Environment Program is committed to reducing these emissions to avoid the most severe effects of climate change. We pursue our goal with strategies in the following areas: Clean Power--Increase renewable energy and energy efficiency while reducing fossil fuel development and use for electricity generation.Clean transportation--Increase fuel efficiency and access to transit, biking and walking options, while constraining the growth of high-carbon fossil fuels for transportation. Building broad support--Engage diverse members of the public. The Hewlett Foundation also has a grant program dedicated to conserving land in the US West.

Categories: Conservation, Energy efficiency, Sustainable Development

Varies Northwest, Southwest, Northeast, Southeast, National, Alaska, Midwest Link
Russell Family Foundation NGO

The Russell Family Foundation aims to protect and restore Puget Sound by supporting an environmental education program. They support organizations that provide opportunities for outdoor environmental education experiences throughout Puget Sound. These organizations deliver outdoor experiential learning to students in 5th through 12th grade who live in urbanized areas.

Categories: Restoration, Conservation

Previous round of awards were ~$43,000 Puget Sound, Washington, Northwest Link
WCS Graduate Scholarship Program NGO

Deadline Passed April 2019. Deadline Unknown for 2020. The WCS Graduate Scholarship Program (GSP) is part of a WCS strategy to invest in developing individual conservation leaders around the world. The GSP provides access to international graduate education opportunities (masters or doctoral programs) to exceptional conservationists from Asia/Pacific, Africa, Latin America, and North American indigenous groups. Scholars are nominated by WCS global conservation staff and are selected based on their exceptional abilities and potential to become leaders of the conservation movement in their home countries. The short-form deadline will be April 2019. Applicants who are approved at this stage will be asked to fill out a full application, with a deadlin of June 2019. Completed nominations/ applications should be submitted electronically to kmastro@wcs.org 

Categories: climate change, scholarship, school, funding, conservation, environment, science, humanities

$30,000-$36,000 toward tuition, board, and fees. United States, International Link
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation NGO

This foundation supports environmental action according to a four part main strategy (see weblink for more).The foundation’s Environmental Program strives to meet its main strategies through grant awards. The Environment Program awards grants through invited proposals and the occasional funding competition. Funding opportunities may also be available through organizations administering re-granting programs supported by the foundation.

Categories: Conservation, Clean Energy

Varies Tri-State Area, Northeast Link
Rockefeller Family Fund NGO

Applications accepted continuously. This foundation focuses on public education of the risks of global warming, conservation of natural resources, protection of health as affected by the environment, meaning implementation of environmental laws, and public participation in national environmental policy debates. Grant applicants must submit a letter of inquiry online. If accepted, the applicant will be invited to submit a full proposal for evaluation.

Categories: Climate Change Impacts, Conservation, public health

$25,000-30,000 National Link
Surdna Foundation NGO

Applications continued continuously; see website for more information.This foundation invests in projects that support their program areas of Sustainable Environments, Strong Local Economies, Thriving Cultures, Community Revitalization, and Effective Citizenry. Organizations are eligible for a max of three consecutive years of funding. Grants are assessed three times a year (February, May, and September), and must be submitted three to four months prior to staff review.

Categories: Sustainable Environments

Varies National Link
LOUISIANA SEA GRANT COLLEGE PROGRAM NGO

SoI is required and due by 5 pm on Friday, March 3, 2017. Full Proposals: Full Proposals will only be accepted on May 22, 2017 if a SoI was submitted. For this funding opportunity, Louisiana Sea Grant seeks responsive research that provides scientific and socioeconomic information, design innovation, as well as policy guidance, for fisheries management, climate change adaptation, resilient communities, and ecosystem restoration in coastal systems and communities in Louisiana. Coastal Louisiana offers a laboratory of restoration, protection, and adaptation projects that together with laboratory studies, field investigations, models, and/or socioeconomic tools and synthesis products, offer innovative opportunities for research projects that should improve understanding of coastal ecosystem function and help predict the responses of ecosystems and communities to a changing climate and/or planning activities. SoIs must include an outreach plan that demonstrates a connection with user groups, such as resource managers, communities, and/or informal and formal learners. Proposed projects should be for a 24-month maximum duration (but may be less than 24 months). PIs should focus on outcomes that can be achieved during this timeframe.

Categories: climate change, marine, fisheries, aquaculture, commercial, industrial, ocean, health, adaptation, mitigation, estuary

Varies. Louisiana, Delta Link
Best Climate Practices- Local Resilience to Climate Disaster Risk NGO

Deadline passed as of May 21, 2017. Deadline for 2018 unknown. Floods, drought, heat waves and other extreme weather events pose potential losses to persons and communities: losses in life and health, economic damages, displacement, and reduced access to basic needs and services, such as water, food, energy, and education. Disaster risk reduction (DRR) entails systematic efforts to reduce those factors in our societies that amplify the impacts of natural hazards. It includes such actions as building more resilient infrastructures, investing in disaster preparedness and in early warning systems, developing new tools such as micro insurances and nature-based solutions, among many others. Disaster risk reduction, with its aim to strengthen the resilience of communities to all hazards, is an essential piece of the sustainable development agenda.

Categories: climate change, management, planning, policy, conservation

Varies. National Link
Green Neighborhoods Grant Program NGO

Deadline Passed 8/15/2016. Deadline for 2018 unknown. The Affordable Green Neighborhoods Grant Program will award grants and provide educational resources to affordable housing developers and related public agencies who choose to pursue LEED 2009 for Neighborhood Development certification. Preference will be given to qualifying projects that meet additional goals, including the redevelopment of infill and previously developed sites, effort to strengthen the surrounding neighborhoods, commitment to engage stakeholders in the development process, and the provision of green housing for a range of income levels.

Categories: Energy

Individual awards of $25,000 Northwest, Southwest, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, National, Alaska Link
Funders' Network Local Sustainability Matching Fund NGO

The Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities (TFN) announces round 3 of the Local Sustainability Matching Fund. The Matching Fund is intended both to support significant urban sustainability projects and to build bridges between public sector sustainability leaders and local foundations. The Fund will provide matching investments from national foundations on a competitive basis to build partnerships between sustainability directors and local place-based foundations to advance discrete sustainability initiatives that demonstrate broad-based community support and engagement.

Categories: Development, Sustainability

$25,000-75,000 Northwest, Southwest, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, National, Alaska Link
Bring Back the Natives/More Fish NGO, DOI, USDA

RFP closed for FY 2015; Unknown grant status for FY 2016. Bring Back the Natives funds on-the-ground efforts to restore, protect, and enhance native aquatic species to their historic range. Projects should involve partnerships between communities, agencies, private landowners, and organizations and should focus on habitat needs of species such as fish, invertebrates, and amphibians. The Bring Back the Natives/More Fish program invests ins conservation activities that restore, protect, and enhance native populations of sensitive or listed fish species across the United States, especially in areas on or adjacent to federal agency lands.

Categories: Natural Resources, Wildlife, Aquatice Species Conservation

Individual awards between $25,000 and $100,000 Northwest, Southwest, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, National, Alaska Link
Strategies for Responsibly Reporting Back Environmental Health and Non-Genomic Research Results NIEHS, NIH, NHGRI

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: June 15, 2023. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), the NIH Office of Science Policy (OSP), the All of Us Research Program, and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), have announced this new funding opportunity. Desirable applications will identify, develop and/or adapt, as well as test strategies for responsibly reporting back environmental health, non-genomic research, and gene-environment interaction (GxE) results to research participants and/or key partners.Key objectives include:Advance the science of responsible report-back of environmental health research and other non-genomic research results to establish best practices/guidelines through research and evaluation.Identify preferences, perceived risks and benefits, barriers and facilitators related to responsibly reporting back research results. Use these new insights to inform the evolving practice of Report-back of Research Results.Recognize the role of Report-back of Research Results in reducing health disparities and advancing health equity.

Categories: #EnvironmentalHealth, #ClimateResilience, environmental health, climate resilience, research, community health

Application budgets are limited to $250K direct costs per year. The maximum project period is 4 years. National Link
Alfalfa and Forage Research Program NIFA

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: May 25, 2023. Alfalfa and Forage Research Program (AFRP) will support the development of improved alfalfa forage and seed production systems. Proposals submitted to AFRP should address one or more of the following priorities: (1) Improving alfalfa forage and seed yield through better nutrient, water and/or pest management; (2) Improving persistence of alfalfa stands by lessening biotic or abiotic stresses; (3) Improving alfalfa forage and seed harvesting and storage systems to optimize economic returns; (4) Improving estimates of alfalfa forage quality as an animal feed to increase forage usage in animal feeds; and/or (5) Breeding to address biotic and abiotic stresses that impact forage yield and persistence and the production of seed for propagation.

Categories: cattle, livestock, sustainability, management, infrastructure, food supplies, feed supplies, wild foods, foraging

$0 - $900,000 National Link
Higher Education Challenge Grants Program NIFA

Deadline passed as of May 30, 2017. Deadline for 2018 unknown. Projects supported by the Higher Education Challenge Grants Program will: (1) address a state, regional, national, or international educational need; (2) involve a creative or non-traditional approach toward addressing that need that can serve as a model to others; (3) encourage and facilitate better working relationships in the university science and education community, as well as between universities and the private sector, to enhance program quality and supplement available resources; and (4) result in benefits that will likely transcend the project duration and USDA support.

Categories: education, higher education, graduate school, collaboration, curriculum,

Varies. National Link
Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Water for Food Production Systems Challenge Area NIFA

Deadline passed as of August 2, 2017 Deadline for 2018 unknown. This AFRI Challenge Area focuses on multidisciplinary systems approaches, which integrate new technologies and strategic management that solve water availability and quality challenges in food production systems. The long-term goal of this program is to sustainably increase agricultural productivity and availability of safe and nutritious food while significantly reducing water use and preserving water quality. The projects are expected to transform how abundant, safe, and nutritious food is produced, processed, distributed, and consumed within the limits of available water from traditional and non-traditional sources. Applications are invited from eligible entities to submit integrated Research, Education and/or Extension projects in two specific grant types: Coordinated Agricultural Projects (CAP) and Strengthening (Food and Agricultural Science Enhancement) CAP grants — see Water for Food Production Systems RFA for details.

Categories: food security, water, irrigation, resources, conservation, sustainability, infrastructure, management, planning, policy, farm, food, local economy, accessibility

$0 - $5,200,000 National Link
NOAA's Adaptation Science Program NOAA

For Fiscal Year 2021, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Adaptation Science Program is soliciting proposals focused on U.S. coastal communities planning for the future impacts of flooding in the context of climate change and other stressors. The program seeks to advance the science of adaptation by soliciting proposals for interdisciplinary and social science research projects that accelerate, expand and enhance the effectiveness and scale of adaptation and resilience planning and implementation in the face of complex challenges in coastal settings. https://cpo.noaa.gov/Funding-Opportunities/FY-2021-Notice-of-Funding-Op…

National Link
NOAA Planet Stewards Funding Opportunity NOAA

Deadline: 06/06/2021. NOAA Planet Stewards is now providing up to $5,000 to support educators' (elementary through college) efforts to implement hands-on action-based stewardship projects that conserve, restore, and protect human communities and natural resources from environmental challenges.

Categories: Marine debris
Habitat conservation and restoration
Carbon footprint reduction
Carbon sequestration

$5000 National Link
Tribal Engagement in Regional Ocean Partnership Priorities NOAA

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: August 30, 2023. NOAA announced the availability of approximately $1.8 million for federally-recognized Tribes to support tribal participation in or engagement with existing regional ocean partnerships, with funding provided through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This Tribal funding complements a separate funding program for established regional ocean partnerships, which seeks to enhance and sustain the efforts of the established partnerships to coordinate inter-state and inter-Tribal management of ocean and coastal management issues. This Tribal engagement funding opportunity focuses on encouraging or enhancing Tribal participation with established regional ocean partnerships, and/or Tribal activities related to partnership priority actions. Learn more and apply here.

Categories: Ocean and coastal management, Tribal leadership, regional ocean partnerships, BIL

$50,000 - $200,000 National Link
Regional Vulnerability Assessments for Ocean Acidification NOAA

The purpose of this document is to advise the public that NOAA/OAR/Ocean Acidification Program (OAP) is soliciting proposals for collaborative projects of up to 3 years in duration that synthesize ocean acidification information at a regional scale (e.g. Large Marine Ecosystem, large estuary or collection of small estuaries, and state or collection of states in US waters) to determine where societal vulnerabilities to ocean acidification exist or are emerging, in order to provide actionable information for marine resource decision makers and/or bolster the resilience of the nation's Blue Economy. This funding opportunity will not support the collection of new chemical or ecological observations or species response data.

Categories: ocean acidification, marine ecosystems, estuaries, resilience, data collection

$100,000-$350,000. National, Coastal communities Link
Ocean Exploration FY 2018 NOAA

Deadline Passed 12/08/2017. Deadline for 2018 Unknown.NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration & Research (OER) seeks to enhance ocean exploration and scientific knowledge of the unknown or poorly known areas of the ocean. This entails identifying, describing and creating baseline characterizations of new ocean habitats, marine resources and/or processes. In this Announcement, OER is seeking proposals focused on three topics including: 1. Exploration of the deep marine environments in the US EEZ and US Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) of the Gulf of Mexico; 2. Discovery and exploration of prehistorically and historically significant submerged marine heritage sites in the Gulf of Mexico within the US EEZ and the US Outer Continental Shelf (OCS); and 3. Novel or innovative technologies and methodologies that could increase the pace and scope of ocean exploration, especially exploration of deep environments including the water column and archaeological sites.

Categories: ocean, marine, coastal, habitat, explore, document, research, baseline, marine biology

Up to $750,000. National, United States Link
Coastal Habitat Restoration and Resilience Grants for Underserved Communities NOAA

Most recent deadline was September 30, 2022. The principal objective of this solicitation is to support $10 million of opportunities for underserved communities, tribes, and/or tribal entities to meaningfully engage in coastal habitat restoration activities. Through this funding opportunity, NOAA intends to support capacity building and restoration project activities that have the greatest potential to lead to habitat restoration that enhances resilience of underserved communities in marine, estuarine, coastal, and Great Lakes areas. Learn more and apply here.

Categories: Coastal habitat restoration, capacity building, equity, environmental justice

$75,000 - $1,000,000 National Link
Ocean Acidification Program Education Mini-Grant Program NOAA

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: February 23, 2024. Up to $50K support is available for ocean acidification education and outreach focused on underserved and/or Indigenous communities or Tribes. Priority goals include engaging diverse audiences in ocean acidification education and outreach, matching ocean acidification communication needs with existing research, education and outreach activities, while developing innovative approaches for community involvement. 

Categories: education, ocean acidification, workforce development, ocean literacy, stewardship

$50,000 - $400,000 National Link
Marine Debris Removal NOAA

Most recent deadline was September 30, 2022. The overall objective of this $28 million funding opportunity is to make tangible, beneficial impacts to coastal and marine habitats and communities across a broad geographic scale, through a variety of marine debris removal methods. While there are a number of effective ways to address the sources and impacts of marine debris, this funding opportunity focuses on two distinct priorities aimed at making the largest measurable impact: 1) the development of large scale and high-value marine debris removal programs (hereafter “partnerships”) that can be responsive to local and regional marine debris removal needs, with a focus on large marine debris; and 2) the implementation of projects that use proven interception technologies that capture marine debris at or close to known marine debris sources or pathways. Learn more and apply here.

Categories: Marine conservation, debris removal, technological solutions, innovation, coastal restoration

$100,000 - $15,000,000 National Link
National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) Collaborative Science Program 2019 NOAA

Deadline Passed 12/03/2018. Deadline Unknown for 2019. The purpose of this document is to advise the public that NOAA is soliciting applications to administer a 5-year, applied research program that supports collaborative research in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS). This funding opportunity will provide support for the grantee to develop and administer a comprehensive national program that funds extramural collaborative science projects to address the system-wide research and management needs of the National Estuarine Research Reserve System, while being responsive to local and regional reserve priorities and those of NOAA. 

Categories: research, collaboration, management, coastal management, estuarine management, implementation

Total Program Funding: $20,000,000 US coastlines Link
FY 2018 – 2020 - Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) Announcement Type: Initial NOAA

Past deadline: May 15, 2019. The notice requests proposals for special projects and programs associated with NOAA's strategic plan and mission goals. There are four mission goals described in the Broad Agency Announcement including Climate Adaptation and Mitigation, Weather-Ready Nations, Healthy Oceans, and Resilient Coastal Communities and Economies. This broad agency announcement is a mechanism to encourage research, education and outreach, innovative projects, or sponsorships that are not addressed through NOAA competitive discretionary programs. It is not a mechanism for awarding congressionally directed funds.

Categories: climate adaptation, mitigation, weather preparedness, disaster preparedness, oceans, coasts

There are no funds specifically appropriated by Congress for this BAA. Funding for potential projects in this notice is contingent upon the availability of Fiscal Year 2018, Fiscal Year 2019, and Fiscal Year 2020 appropriations. Applicants are hereby given notice that funds have not yet been appropriated for any proposed activities in this notice. National Link
Fiscal Year 2018 National Sea Grant College Program Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship NOAA

Deadline passed as of April 7, 2017. Deadline for 2018 unknown. The Sea Grant Act includes a legislative mandate to provide an educational experience in the policies and processes of the Legislative and Executive Branches of the Federal Government for students enrolled in graduate or professional programs that have an interest in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources and in the national policy decisions affecting those resources.

Categories: conservation, coastal, community, climate change, marine, health, ecosystem, student, graduate, funding

Up to $80,000. National Link
Environmental Literacy Grants: Supporting the education of K-12 students and the public for community resilience NOAA

The deadline for pre-applications for Priority 1 of the Fiscal Year 2020 Environmental Literacy Program (ELP) Funding Opportunity has passed. Only those institutions that receive authorization from NOAA are eligible to submit a full applicationThe goal of this funding opportunity is to build environmental literacy of K-12 students and the public so they are knowledgeable of the ways in which their community can become more resilient to extreme weather and/or other environmental hazards, and become involved in achieving that resilience.

Categories: Education, environment, education, community, resilience, knowledge building

Total funds available are $3,000,000; individual projects may be funded up to $1,000,000 Northwest, Southwest, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, National, Alaska Link