Mumbai 28th Nov– Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation (Shakti) on Friday announced the launch of the Acclimate Challenge Fund, in collaboration with Intellecap Advisory Solutions. The objective of the fund is to strengthen and help accelerate the work of civil society organizations (CSOs) committed to climate action in India.

The objective of the fund is to strengthen and help accelerate the work of civil society organizations committed to climate action in India.

The fund aims to provide capacity building opportunities in areas that include electric mobility, green hydrogen, sustainable transport, industries, cooling, net-zero buildings (Bloomberg)

CSOs stand at the core of the fight against climate change by tackling the climate crisis in India on various fronts. Recognising CSOs as a  dynamic source of strategic and innovative climate action, Shakti and  the ACCLIMATE Challenge Fund aims to provide capacity building opportunities in areas that include electric mobility, green hydrogen, sustainable transport, industries, cooling, net-zero buildings, agriculture, coastal ecosystems, and climate finance, using a cross-sectoral approach. It will seek to facilitate general operating support and bespoke capacity building and mentorship for shortlisted organizations for a duration of 2 years.

The Challenge Fund aims to stimulate tailored responses to local context-specific problems by tapping into local knowledge and creative capacity which is often the forte of CSOs who are deeply immersed in the context. The fund will engage and channel additional resources into organizations to initiate, implement and evaluate activities in a specialized field of climate mitigation. In many cases, such support has a significant impact on the effectiveness of these organizations in fulfilling their missions.

ACCLIMATE seeks to engage with:

1) CSOs with an exclusive focus on climate action who want to expand into new sectors.

2) CSOs working in  areas such as economic research, industrial competitiveness, rural development, urban planning, poverty alleviation, education, etc. who are looking to expand their work by  building   capacity on climate action.

The first phase of the Challenge Fund aims to  build technical capacities of CSOs to work on climate change mitigation across two thematic areas of intervention -Policy Research and Analysis and Strategic Communications.

Speaking about the launch, Dr. Anshu Bharadwaj, CEO, Shakti Foundation, said, “Fighting climate change needs the contribution of all critical stakeholders, especially civil society organizations who are at the forefront of implementing solutions at the last mile. Through the ACCLIMATE fund, we would like to leverage and maximize the impact of the work done by these organizations by building their technical capabilities in the climate change space. We anticipate that these grants will help them to strengthen their operations and enhance their impact. Shakti would like to create a network of capable partners to build high quality evidence at the grassroots level, and make climate change an important priority at the local and state government levels. This will help us to design and build contextualized implementation strategies based on local knowledge and expertise.”

Vikas Bali, CEO, Intellecap said about the Fund, “Intellecap’s uniqueness lies in its ability to traverse both the realms of civil society and business with equal ease. Through the ACCLIMATE Fund, Shakti and Intellecap will seek to build meaningful partnerships with CSOs, who are many-a-times the implementers of solutions. We are glad to partner with Shakti, one of our closest compatriots towards our journey towards a sustainable future for the global south.”

As part of its mission to  to facilitate India’s transition to a cleaner energy Shakti, through the Challenge Fund,  aims to stimulate tailored responses to local context-specific problems by tapping into local knowledge and creative capacity by engaging and channelling additional resources to initiate, implement and evaluate activities in a specialized field of the climate mitigation.

The Challenge Fund invites  CSOs to develop  innovative and pathbreaking  solutions centred around  the two  thematic areas of policy and research, and strategic communication mentioned above and submit their applications here.

The applications for the fund are open for organizations across India. The last date to submit applications is 15^th December, 2022.