The Adaptation & Resilience Fund is designed to tackle some of the most pressing challenges of a changing climate. The Fund brings together philanthropic funding and expertise to address multiple climate hazards, and accelerate and catalyze systems transformation to support people facing the greatest climate impacts. In response to the United Nations secretary-general’s urgent July 25 Call to Action on Extreme Heat, the fund’s first wave of grants will focus on helping cities and communities build resilience to extreme heat in urban areas in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, prioritizing cities with high levels of informal labor and housing, inward migration pressure, and exposure to extreme heat. With nearly two-thirds of the global workforce employed in the informal economy – often outdoors and without social safety nets – communities around the world already face health risks, economic hardship, and social inequities, all of which are exacerbated by exposure to extreme heat.
This RFP seeks to identify and support initiatives that specifically address the A&R Fund’s aspirations on innovative finance. The Fund hope to identify and support initiatives that research, test, pilot, and implement approaches to unlock and catalyze public and private investment in adaptation and resilience, including building resilience to extreme heat, in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.
RFP SUMMARY INFORMATION:
- Issuing Organization: ClimateWorks Foundation’s Adaptation & Resilience Program
- Release Date: August 2025
- Letter of Inquiry (LOI) Submission Deadline: September 19 at 11:59 pm PT
- RFP Application: Apply Here
- RFP Webinar: August 20 at 7–9 AM PT Register Here
- Total Funding Availability: $3–$4.5 million USD across several potential grantees
- Geographic Focus: Lower-, lower-middle-, and middle-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia
- Contact Information: adaptation@climateworks.org
The eligibility criteria are detailed in the Request for Proposals
This RFP is open to all nonprofits, civil society organizations, community-based organizations, cooperatives, labor unions, international organizations, academic institutions, consultancies, public sector banks, and private sector enterprises that align with the mission of the A&R Fund and which are deemed by ClimateWorks to be eligible to receive funding based on applicable laws and regulations. Given the scaling potential of adaptation pilot investments through multilateral and national public finance, the Fund encourages applications from multilateral development banks, development finance institutions, national development banks, regional development banks, national and regional green banks, international aid agencies, and other relevant multilateral and national institutions.
Governments and public agencies must specify a preferred technical assistance provider (or multiple providers) that is best suited for their proposed project activities. This technical assistance provider will serve as the recipient of funds.