Biodiversity conservation in developing countries and emerging economies is also to be supported through IKI
Project outlines for the new BMU support programme IKI Medium Grants can be submitted from today. The programme is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and supports North-South cooperation for global climate action and biodiversity conservation in developing countries and emerging economies. It is geared towards civil society stakeholders based in Germany and the deadline for submissions is 12 May 2020. The best project ideas will be selected and invited to submit more detailed project proposals.
Under IKI Medium Grants, calls for ideas with different thematic focuses are announced regularly. It is planned to commission ten to 15 projects a year - these will receive a grant of between 300,000 and 800,000 euros over a period of two to three years. The BMU is providing the programme with a total of 30 million euros over five years. Zukunft-Umwelt-Gesellschaft gGmbH (ZUG) has been commissioned to implement the project financing on behalf of the BMU.
IKI Medium Grants is intended to support smaller organisations that reach regions and actors in developing countries which are not the focus of national measures. The aim is to strengthen the potential of organisations to generate fresh impetus for climate action and biodiversity conservation. The goal of this new fund is to promote innovative ideas, adapted to the local conditions and needs, that aim to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in the context of international partnerships.
The key areas of the first call for ideas announced on 12 February 2020 are the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and conservation of biodiversity. Initial project outlines in the areas of energy, mobility and cities can be submitted for the funding area mitigation. The funding area biodiversity addresses, in particular, the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration starting next year (2021-2030) and the sustainable use of protected areas and ecosystems. In addition, projects outlines can be submitted which enable civil society to effectively contribute to achieving the goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The International Climate Initiative (IKI)
Following a decision of the German Bundestag, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) launched the International Climate Initiative (IKI) in 2008 and since then has been supporting numerous projects in the fields of climate action and biodiversity conservation as well as at the interface of both fields.
Through thematic and country-specific selection procedures, the IKI primarily supports large-scale programmes aimed at speeding up the transformation towards sustainable and low-emission economic and supply structures. Both the implementation of the Paris Agreement and of the Convention on Biological Diversity call for a strengthening of smaller stakeholders' capacities in developing countries and emerging economies and effective involvement of all social groups. To this end, the BMU launched two programmes; IKI Small Grants at the end of 2019 and now IKI Medium Grants.