Clare County Council is delighted to welcome the announcement by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan TD, of a new Community Climate Action Fund which is being made available to organisations and community groups interested in developing projects and initiatives which relate to the challenge of addressing climate change.
As an investment under the Climate Action Fund, the overall objective of the Community Climate Action Programme is to support and empower communities, in partnership with Clare County Council, to shape and build low carbon, sustainable communities in a coherent way to contribute to national climate and energy targets. The Programme aims to support small and large, rural and urban communities to take positive climate action. This Programme supports direct engagement with communities to both promote and assist in the scale up of community climate action from the respective starting points of the communities. The funding is for investment in small, medium, and large-scale community climate action projects.
There are two parts to the funding available:
- Strand 1: Action: Building Low Carbon Communities
Clare County Council has been allocated a total of €572,000 to work in partnership with communities, large and small, rural and urban, within County Clare to build low carbon communities in a considered and structured way.
- Strand 1a: Shared Island Community Climate Action
In addition, a total of €3 million is available to support cross-border and all-island community climate action partnerships between community organisations in County Clare and in Northern Ireland.
The projects will take action across at least one, preferably several, of the following five themes:
- Community/energy
- Travel
- Food and waste
- Shopping and recycling
- Local climate and environmental action.
The Community Climate Action Programme will support the delivery of the new five-year Climate Action Plan for County Clare, which is in development. The plan aims to position County Clare as a national leader in climate action and strengthen the delivery of effective climate action at local and community levels, through place-based climate action.
The application process for the Community Climate Action Programme is available through the Clare County Council website.
Ahead of the launch of the Community Climate Action Programme, Cllr Joe Cooney, Cathaoirleach, Clare County Council, said, “It is clear that communities in County Clare are eager and willing to take significant climate action. The Community Climate Action Programme places community leadership at the heart of local climate and environmental action. It presents an opportunity for local community groups and organisations, supported by Clare County Council, to play an active role in helping Ireland to become a climate neutral economy and resilient society by 2050.”
Pat Dowling, Chief Executive, Clare County Council, said, “The Community Climate Action Programme supports community activation and will engage and empower community groups and organisations, in partnership with Clare County Council, to develop projects and initiatives that will inspire hope, interest and passion in climate action. We are delighted to work alongside local communities in County Clare to drive the change necessary to address climate adaptation and mitigation.”
Siobhan McNulty, Acting Director of Physical Development, Clare County Council, said, “This Programme enables communities to get involved in climate action at a local level. Demonstrating local leadership around climate action will be important to ensure that communities become climate aware and are supported to work positively in this area.”
For more information on the Community Climate Action Programme visit: https://www.clarecoco.ie/services/climate/
To learn more about the development of Clare’s Climate Action Plan visit: https://yoursay.clarecoco.ie/climate-action-plan
The Programme is open for applications from 6th December, 2023, to 28th February, 2024. Contact the Community Climate Action Officer, Kelly Slattery, on communityclimate@clarecoco.ie