Type of Recipient
Community-level organization
Fund Size
2,100,000 USD committed to grantee partners
Co-financing Requirement
No
Application Timeframe
Call of applications is open for 4 weeks in June/July and the funds are disbursed by the end of that calendar year.
Sectors and Themes
Youth
Climate Objective
Cross-cutting
Type of Support Provider
Bilateral
Trustee or Administrator
Youth Climate Justice Fund
Contact Information
Official Website
The Youth Climate Justice Fund aims to support climate justice young leaders with trust-based funding, resources, and youth-to-youth capacity development, enabling them to amplify their voices and to keep their vision and influence alive. They work to strengthen existing organizing efforts and support emerging youth movements with a focus on bridging funders and organizers to enable flexible and impactful support. Through youth-to-youth capacity development and resource sharing, they empower and support young people to drive change and build a just and sustainable future.
Collectively, we have the power to ignite meaningful change and build equitable and sustainable futures. Despite the challenges posed by the current crisis, youth climate justice organizers remain determined to challenge the status quo and push boundaries.
The Youth Climate Justice Fund provides core flexible funding to emerging youth climate justice groups. In 2023, they committed funding to 50+ groups globally with a total of $700,000 from 1,800 applications.
Purpose of Support
Strengthening enabling environments and stakeholder capacity
Funding Type
Grants
Organizational and Decision Making Structure
- Youth Climate Justice Fund opens the call: The call is open for 4 weeks, youth climate and environmental justice groups around the globe can apply. Non-English speaking groups are welcome to apply in Arabic, English, French, Hindi, Portuguese, Spanish or Swahili.
- Applications are screened by the YCJF staff: Check that groups meet basic eligibility criteria and are aligned with YCJF values and principles.
- Regional Committee review: Review of proposals per regional priorities and contacting groups to better understand their needs.
- Steering Committee voting: Each Steering Committee member ranks groups based on the YCJF principles, values and key funding priorities.
- Due diligence process: YCJF staff and Regional Leads reach out to the selected groups and support them to receive the funding.
- Grants are awarded!: YCJF staff and Regional Leads work with partners to speed the process for groups to receive funding.
- Join the YCJF community: Groups are invited to join the YCJF welcome call and to co-develop youth-to-youth capacity development resources.
Eligibility Criteria
- Your group or collective is led by young people aged 35 years and below. In order to be eligible for a YCJF grant, the majority of your leadership must be young people or the individuals with decision making power should be aged 35 years and below.
- Your group, network or collective is based in East Asia and Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia, Europe and Central Asia, and North America.
- Applicants from high-income countries should belong to a minority or underserved groups to be considered for funding. Groups that focus solely on international engagements without any community-based work are ineligible to apply.
- You believe in and exhibit inclusive organizing, collective action and intersectional movement building.
- Your group, network or collective is based in North America or Western Europe but is led by young people who are discriminated against and/or marginalized based on class, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, background, etc.
- Non-partisan, non-violent, and legal movements.
Specifically looking for groups who are:
- Cultivating diverse leadership rooted in fair and equitable climate action with community power.
- Raising ambitions and commitments on climate & socio-environmental justice.
- Holding policymakers accountable to their promises and strengthening community power.
FAQ: https://ycjf.org/assets/ENGLISH_Full-FAQ-Grantmaking-3.pdf
Eligible Countries
Your group, network or collective is based in East Asia and Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia, Europe and Central Asia, and North America.*
*Applicants from high-income countries should belong to a minority or underserved groups to be considered for funding. Groups that focus solely on international engagements without any community-based work are ineligible to apply.
Information on how to
Section A- Eligibility Criteria
- Is your group a youth-led organisation/collective?
- *Please remember that if your organization/collective is not youth-led, you are not eligible to apply for our grant application.
- Is your group legally registered with an official bank account to receive grants? (Please note that both registered and unregistered groups are eligible to apply to the YCJF)
- If not, do you have a fiscal sponsor or partner organisation who can receive the grant on your behalf if successful?
- Which region is your group based? (Applicants from high-income countries should belong to a minority or underserved groups to be considered for funding. Groups that focus solely on international engagements without any community-based work are ineligible to apply).
- East Asia and Pacific Europe and Central Asia Latin America & Caribbean Middle East and North Africa North America South Asia Sub-Saharan Africa
- Does the leadership of your group identify with any of the following:
- Indigenous-led
- Womxn-led (including women led, nonbinary leadership, etc),
- LGBTQI2S+-led
- Local community-led
- People of colour-led
- Differently abled-led
- Refugees-led Children-led
- How old are the people in the position of decision-making of your group?
- Is at least 75% of the community served by your group under the age of 35?
- Does the work of your group focus on holding policy makers accountable?
- *This may include (but is not restricted to) campaigns and activities aimed at urging or supporting decision-makers to implement their climate and environmental promises.
- Does the work of your group focus on raising ambition on equitable and fair climate action?
- *This may include (but is not restricted to) activities that address the lack of urgency on climate and environmental action by presenting ambitious indigenous/locally-led solutions, and approaches that can be scaled by governments, businesses and society.
- Does the work of your group focus on cultivating diverse leadership rooted in fair and equitable climate action?
- *This may include (but is not restricted to) activities that build youth-leadership in practical ways to enhance community and collective power in delivering climate action.
- Does your group have an annual budget?
- If yes, how much is the annual budget? (YCJF open calls prioritise emerging grassroots groups. We recognize that established youth-led groups with an annual budget of over $100,000 can face challenges sustaining their work. If you are in this category and believe your work is aligned with us, please reach out via ask@ycjf.org)
Section B - Group / Project Description
- Name of your group
- What is the primary location of your group’s work?
- Name of the Proposal Lead
- *The person making the application
- Position of the Proposal Lead in the group
- Date of Birth of the Proposal Lead
- Point of contact of the group (email/whatsapp, telegram, signal/phone call)
- Briefly describe a problem you identified and tackled in the past that might be related or unrelated, and how those experiences can be deepened with this grant What is the primary objective and strategic vision of your group?
- Briefly describe the main project/activity the group is seeking support for.
- How do your previous achievements and current project align with YCJF’s objectives to hold policy makers accountable, raise ambition on equitable and fair climate and environmental action, and cultivate youth leadership rooted in community power?
- What has the team achieved so far and how will this grant build upon your existing achievements, if any?
- List any partners or allies your group is working with.
- How does your group incorporate or plan to incorporate principles of justice, diversity, and inclusion into the efforts aimed at supporting underserved groups?
- What will you spend money on?
- Where do you see your group 3 years from now?
- How much are you requesting in funding? (grassroots groups can apply from $10,000 up to a maximum of $20,000. International and regional groups with larger funding needs can contact us at ask@ycjf.org. Such groups can apply for up to $50,000)
- What capacity building and organisation development needs does your group require in addition to the funding
- *How can we support you beyond this grant