Climate partnership grants
Grants and practical support to help an early climate business become ready for investors, working with a nonprofit partner in one of six eligible countries. New partnerships are not currently being accepted.
Diese Finanzierungsmöglichkeit ist derzeit auf Englisch beschrieben.
P4G supports partnerships that help climate businesses prove their business case and attract investors. Work can include testing customer demand, improving financial plans and operations, addressing regulatory barriers and measuring results. The nonprofit administrative partner receives the grant from World Resources Institute (WRI); the business can receive support through a subcontract or subgrant from that nonprofit.
The currently linked guidelines describe up to US$300,000 for an initial 18-month project. The amount and budget are negotiated. P4G can cover at most 70% of the total project budget: the partnership must provide at least 30% in money, such as other grants or operating capital. In-kind contributions do not meet this cash-match requirement.
Grant spending supports preparation for investment, policy and regulatory work, monitoring, learning and communications. Directly relevant operating costs, including salaries and rent, must be justified and cannot exceed 30% of the P4G budget. Administrative overheads require WRI approval, are capped at 7%, and must use the same percentage on P4G funding and the matching contribution.
The grant does not buy land, buildings, major infrastructure or business assets such as vehicles and construction equipment. Minor office equipment used only for the project can qualify, as can certain technology-transfer costs. Other excluded spending includes private product development, above-market costs, large commercial partners’ salaries and travel, and direct subsidies to financial mechanisms or funds unless a waiver is granted for overwhelming public benefit. Land, buildings, large infrastructure and activities outside P4G countries cannot count as matching funds. Grant spending must comply with the EU’s state-aid rules governing public financial support to businesses.
The grant is not a repayable loan, but WRI withdraws unused grant money and interest earned on unspent funds at project completion. Payments go to a dedicated project bank account after the nonprofit signs the agreement and provides the required documents. Later instalments depend on the agreed workplan, reporting and financial controls; failure to demonstrate the cash match for each reporting period stops further funding. Ten percent is held back until final reports and the plan to promote the results are accepted.
P4G is currently at capacity and is not accepting new partnership applications.
Eligibility
Funded activities must take place in Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, South Africa or Vietnam. The partnership can also work in other countries eligible for official development assistance (ODA), but P4G does not fund those activities. A high-risk location or poor road access that prevents monitoring can make a partnership ineligible.
Your business must offer climate-smart agriculture, food-loss or food-waste reduction, water resilience, zero-emission mobility or renewable-energy solutions. Choose the primary contribution: reducing emissions or helping people adapt to climate change. Adaptation solutions receive preference. The business must also advance inclusive economic growth, poverty reduction and gender equality, with measurable results.
The lead business must be a micro or small enterprise with fewer than 50 employees, funded and operating for at least one year. A subsidiary or spin-off still controlled by a larger parent that does not meet that size definition is excluded. It must have developed a product or service, established a customer base and be preparing to commercialise or raise capital. This is the seed or post-seed stage; businesses that have completed Series A funding are considered beyond the grant’s target stage.
The solution must be new or substantially improved in its industry and country. The guidelines’ innovative-enterprise test allows either an external expert’s assessment of the planned innovation and its technological or industrial risk, or research-and-development costs of at least 10% of operating costs in one of the previous three years, or in the current fiscal year for a startup without financial history, as certified by an external auditor. P4G seeks proven commercial technology: its definition includes more than 50 units sold and a feasibility study covering the supply chain and skilled labour. For technology-transfer projects, the technology must be at readiness level 6 or above, commercially available in another country or sector and being adapted to the new setting.
Partner with a nonprofit that can administer the grant, monitor impact and help the business prepare for investment. The business should already be registered in the implementation country or intend to register there. If the administrative nonprofit is not registered there, include a local nonprofit. All partners must be registered legal entities, and commercial partners must be legally and financially independent of the non-commercial partners. Multilateral organisations, WRI and P4G board members cannot receive these grants; public and academic institutions can receive funds as other partners but cannot lead administration.
The team needs relevant technical, business, financial, social, environmental and grant-management experience. Newly formed partnerships can qualify if they demonstrate complementary expertise. Provide evidence that necessary government permissions have been obtained or requested. Agree each partner’s responsibilities and commitments in a partnership agreement that lasts throughout the funding period.
Gender equality is a requirement, not just an optional benefit. P4G requires alignment with the 2X criteria, which assess opportunities for women through leadership, quality jobs, finance, enterprise support and access to useful products and services. The current framework requires basic environmental and social safeguards, including protection from gender-based violence; governance commitments, management systems and gender data; at least one qualifying criterion already met; and a timed commitment to meet another. Use the official 2X criteria and thresholds tool for the relevant country and sector thresholds.
You must meet P4G’s responsible-business requirements, including legal compliance, human rights, decent work, environmental protection and anti-corruption. Prepare an environmental, social and governance plan, or include developing one in the funded work. P4G’s exclusion list covers harmful forced or child labour; illegal or internationally banned activities; unsustainable fishing and forestry; destruction of important conservation areas; and work on Indigenous Peoples’ land without their fully documented consent.
Other exclusions include unbonded asbestos fibres, significant volumes or commercial-scale use of hazardous chemicals, standalone fossil-fuel power, fossil-fuel extraction and related infrastructure or services, captive-coal use, peat power and deforestation. Radioactive materials are excluded with exceptions for medical or measurement equipment and equipment with trivial or adequately shielded sources. Substantial involvement in tobacco, weapons, gambling or alcohol other than beer and wine is excluded: more than 10% of company balance-sheet value or earnings, or financial/investment-fund portfolio volume.
Agriculture and bioenergy exclusions include unsustainable expansion into high-carbon or high-biodiversity land, feedstocks that could meaningfully serve as food or undermine food security, export agribusiness dependent on air cargo over 4,000 km, and unsustainable or high-emission meat and dairy systems. For some food-supply-vulnerable settings, P4G allows case-by-case use of local rather than international emissions benchmarks. These are examples from the full mandatory exclusion list.
How to apply
- Status
- Termine noch nicht bekannt
Check P4G’s official call page for reopening; new applications are currently suspended. The published process has the nonprofit administrative partner submit an English concept note and attachments online, observing word and page limits. Applying is free. Shortlisted partnerships have four weeks to prepare a full proposal and may receive assessment visits. An independent Grants Committee makes the final funding decision.
Prepare a business plan, five-year financial model, pitch presentation, annual reports, ownership table, partner commitments, budget and workplan. The nonprofit’s annual financial statements should be audited. Explain the links between your planned work, outputs and measurable climate and social results, and how the grant will address the business’s regulatory or market barriers.
Budget for required regulatory engagement, monitoring and two public learning outputs: a report on the policy or regulatory work and a case study of the business’s path toward attracting investment. The guidelines allocate US$2,500–5,000 for the two outputs together, with a maximum of US$7,000 in specific cases. Include support for investor due diligence, work to fix gaps it identifies, and support for the final audit. P4G contracts the independent investment assessment, and WRI procures and pays the final audit. Include your own work supporting these processes in the budget, rather than the providers’ fees. Publicly share grant-funded reports, data and analysis; confidential underlying technology and other sensitive intellectual property need not be disclosed.
Funded partnerships report spending and their cash match, usually quarterly, and activities and progress at least twice a year. They must support the final audit, participate in agreed learning and promotion, acknowledge P4G’s support and plan for its biennial summit during the grant. P4G expects annual impact updates after funding ends.
Previously funded partnerships must first discuss further support with their National Platform Liaison or P4G Hub. A second grant requires renewed eligibility, a justification explaining the remaining challenges and proposed solutions, and an invited full proposal. The additional period is at most 12 months, without further extensions; funding is subject to availability and committee approval.