91 active signals; $450M+. Industrial climate capital pivots to SMEs, community capital bypasses international NGOs, EU concentrates on bioremediation and biorefinery.

Hello everyone.

The June update for Climate, Agriculture, Food Systems, Energy, and Environment brings 50 new calls across three structural shifts: climate-aligned industrial capital concentrating decisively at SMEs and startups rather than NGOs and academic institutions, locally-led community capital routing through CSOs, cooperatives, and Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities rather than international development intermediaries, and EU strategic-autonomy investment concentrating in bioremediation, biorefinery, climate adaptation, and biodiversity infrastructure. Total envelope is approximately USD $100 million across grants, prizes, fellowships, equity-investment vehicles, and in-kind accelerator programs, with 30 of the 50 closing within the next 30 days. The June 5 to June 22 closing window is unusually dense; prioritize accordingly.

In Climate-Aligned Industrial Capital Concentrating at SMEs and Startups Rather Than NGOs, multiple funders are restructuring eligibility around for-profit ventures with revenue traction, commercial scaling pathways, and equity-acceptance willingness rather than the NGO and academic institution profile that dominates traditional climate philanthropy. BIONetZero restricts eligibility to SMEs and startups with TRL 4 to 8 biosolutions and routes EUR €60,000 across a four-stage cascade with 25 percent co-financing mandatory and reimbursement-based payment that places cash flow risk on the SME. CIRCULOOS Open Call 3.2 funds single entities joining existing circular manufacturing value chains, requiring mandatory adoption of CIRCULOOS digital tools as a condition of disbursement. COSMIC’s 2nd Open Call funds up to 13 SMEs to co-develop AI and data solutions for energy resource optimization across 15 large-scale European pilots. Innovationsfonden’s INNO-CCUS Pool 5 channels DKK 69 million (approximately USD $10 million) to 5 to 10 consortia at the mid-TRL band where research outputs cross into commercial deployment. mHUB’s Energy Tech Accelerator takes 6.5 percent equity for a USD $200,000 package with Chicago in-person requirement and direct corporate-pilot access to Equinix Foundation, Generac, HPE Foundation, Marmon, and Salesforce. PowerUp NetZero, the Forest Bioeconomy Investment Accelerator, ProVeg Fast-track to Impact, Barilla Good Food Makers, and the Norrsken Global Call for Startups all carry a similar structural signature: SME-or-startup-only eligibility, commercial deployment as the implicit theory of change, and either equity acceptance or pitch readiness as the price of admission. Taken together, these calls indicate that climate funders are pricing out grant-only theories of change for industrial decarbonization and routing capital to ventures that can scale on commercial terms.

In Locally-Led Community Capital: Conservation and Climate Funding Routing Through CSOs, Cooperatives, and IPLCs, capital is bypassing international NGO intermediation and channeling directly to community-level institutions operating in target landscapes. UNDP’s GEF Small Grants Programme operates three parallel calls in this cycle (Gambia OP8 at USD $50,000 with a 70/30 landscape split tying capital to specific protected areas, Uzbekistan at USD $50,000 with Mahalla neighborhood-institution eligibility unique to that country, Malaysia ICCA-GSI at USD $40,000 requiring Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities to lead Work Package 1), with mandatory co-financing ratios across all three indicating that this is investment-alignment funding, not full implementation capital. FAO’s AFR100 Direct Beneficiary Grants in Kenya channels USD $5,000 to $50,000 directly to Forest and Farm Producer Organizations, Farmer Cooperatives, community-based organizations, women’s groups, and self-help groups operating specifically within the Kerio Valley landscape, bypassing international restoration NGOs entirely. The Darwin Initiative Round 32, despite being a UK Government ODA program, has restructured its Capability and Capacity scheme to require recipients to be local and national organizations (civil society, research institutes, public bodies) rather than international NGOs delivering capacity-building services to them. Milken-Motsepe’s USD $2 million Circular Economy Prize restricts eligibility to companies with over two years of continuous operation on the African continent. MwAPATA’s IMAGRI call concentrates Ireland-Malawi food systems research capital at Malawi-based researchers holding permanent positions at Malawian institutions, with a 30 percent minimum women team requirement. FAPESP’s PROASA call channels Brazilian ocean and Antarctic research capital exclusively through Sao Paulo state institutional affiliation. Taken together, these calls reflect a deliberate restructuring of where conservation and climate development capital lands: not in international NGO budget lines, but in the community-level institutions that actually deliver on the ground.

In EU Strategic Autonomy Concentrating in Bioremediation, Biorefinery, Adaptation, and Insect Biodiversity Infrastructure, the European Commission’s Horizon Europe Cluster 6 framework and parallel mechanisms are funding the specific work the EU treats as foundational to resilience and sovereignty rather than open-ended innovation. The Research Executive Agency’s Ukraine Bioremediation call is funding two Innovation Action projects at EUR €5 million to €6 million each to develop biotechnology and Nature-based Solutions for soil, water, and air contaminated by conflict, with mandatory multi-actor consortia including Ukrainian land managers and researchers and explicit exclusion of entities controlled by China under General Annex B’s critical technology restriction. The parallel Insect Decline call funds two Research and Innovation Action projects at approximately EUR €6.5 million each addressing the 75 percent insect-population decline over three decades, with pollinators explicitly out of scope on the basis that sufficient prior knowledge exists. CINEA’s LIFE-2026-SAP-CLIMA-CCA Standard Action Projects call channels EUR €28 million across approximately 12 climate adaptation projects spanning nine intervention areas with maximum 60 percent EU funding rate and a 2-point evaluation bonus for EU outermost-region partner inclusion. The Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking’s Diversification of Nutritional Food Ingredient Sources call funds a single EUR €20 million Innovation Action Flagship project to demonstrate full industrial-scale biorefinery for alternative-source proteins, lipids, specialty carbohydrates, and fibres at TRL 8, with the strategic intent explicitly framed as EU food sector resilience and strategic autonomy through ingredient source diversification. Alongside these flagship topics, the CIRCULOOS, COSMIC, BIONetZero, and PowerUp NetZero cascade-funded calls operationalize the European Green Deal at the SME deployment layer. Taken together, these calls indicate that EU climate, biodiversity, and bioeconomy capital is concentrating on a specific resilience-and-sovereignty agenda where the technical work and the geopolitical framing are inseparable.

The grants are organized into three categories:

1. Open Calls: Current grant and opportunities with a deadline. Grants are listed by closing date. 65 open opportunities – 39 new!

2. Rolling Applications: current grant and opportunities with rolling applications (but it’s still best to submit as early as possible). 23 rolling opportunities- 1 new!

3. Long term planning: Grants that have closed their current rounds, but are expected to open new windows. 3 long term opportunities!

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Open Calls:

Wildfires (satellite-tech proposals for response), European Space Agency Space Solutions.*New!* *Closing soon!*

The European Space Agency’s Wildfire Response call is funding space-enabled services across three priority areas: early detection of wildfires, near-real-time fire evolution monitoring, and fire behavior simulation and prediction. The funder logic is an architectural commitment to space-as-integration-layer rather than space-as-standalone: proposals that do not substantively integrate satellite Earth observation, positioning, or communications fail the technical eligibility screen regardless of innovation elsewhere. Zero-equity funding (covering 50 to 80 percent of eligible costs depending on SME classification) is paired with mandatory Written Authorisation of ESA Funding from the relevant National Delegation before the Full Proposal stage, the load-bearing administrative filter. The three-step process (Activity Pitch Questionnaire, Outline Proposal, Full Proposal) is sequential and gated; companies that previously completed an ESA Kick-start, Proof-of-Concept Study, or Enabling Study may be recommended directly to step three, so prior ESA track record is itself a routing signal. A separate Wildfire Preparedness call is planned later in 2026.

• Geographies: ESA Member States plus Canada (Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Canada). The wildfire challenge in the background is specifically European.

• Who can apply: Companies intending to develop commercially viable, space-enabled services and products related to wildfire management. SME preferred. Must demonstrate credible customer engagement, market potential, technical feasibility, and clear added value from space data or space-based technologies. Written Authorisation of ESA Funding from National Delegation(s) mandatory before Full Proposal.

• Funding amount: Zero-equity funding covering 50 to 80 percent of eligible costs depending on SME status and National Delegation approval. No per-project EUR ceiling stated on the source page for this specific call; activity types are Proof-of-Concept Studies and Pilot Projects.

• Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Climate & Environment; Humanitarian & Emergency Response. Focus areas: wildfire detection, fire evolution monitoring, fire behavior simulation, satellite Earth observation for disaster management.

• Deadline:June 2, 2026.

• Learn more and apply here.

Companies without an existing relationship to fire services or civil protection authorities will struggle on the customer-engagement criterion; the call rewards demonstrated end-user co-design over technical sophistication. Teams already mid-pipeline should prioritize this round; teams building from scratch should redirect to the planned Wildfire Preparedness call later in 2026.

Daylight research — Call for proposals 2026, Velux Stiftung. *Closing soon!*

Velux Stiftung seeks research that treats natural daylight as a serious societal and ecological lever—not a background variable. This program is designed to fund ideas that mainstream research financing tends to miss: neglected questions with high change potential, deliberately interdisciplinary collaborations (especially between fields that rarely work together), and approaches that aim to transfer knowledge beyond academia into real-world decision-making. The 2026 call centers on three funder-defined priorities: how daylight can shape future solar societies (beyond incremental solar tech improvements), how daylight affects health across living systems at a global scale, and how densifying cities can maintain adequate daylight access in ways that are scalable beyond a single local case. Seed projects are explicitly framed as “test the impossible,” while larger research projects are expected to deliver a coherent breakthrough study with a credible pathway to impact.

• Geographies: Global (subject to foundation eligibility and sanctions compliance).

• Who can apply: Academic research institutions and Principal Investigators in permanent positions; interdisciplinary collaborations encouraged.

• Funding amount: CHF 50’000 to CHF 100’000 (Seed projects, up to one year); CHF 100’000 to CHF 300’000 (Research projects, up to four years).

• Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Scientific Research; Focus areas: natural daylight, future solar societies, daylight and global health, daylight and urbanization, daylight exposure measurement, scalable daylight-access strategies.

• Deadline:June 4, 2026 (23:59 CEST).

• Learn more and apply here.

This is a “proof-to-change” fund: the strongest applications make daylight central, quantify what will be newly knowable, and show how evidence will travel into practice or policy.

ACCESS: Accelerating Access to Low-Carbon Urban Mobility Solutions through Digitalization, UN-Habitat.*New!* *Closing soon!*

UN-Habitat’s ACCESS program is funding implementation partners in Argentina and Ecuador for the Accelerating Access to Low-Carbon Urban Mobility Solutions through Digitalization project, a six-country Latin American consortium underwritten by Germany’s International Climate Initiative. The funder logic routes capital through universities and NGOs that are already in-country and registered locally, with for-profit organizations explicitly ineligible, and channels work toward Buenos Aires and Quito as designated pilot cities. The seven priority activities map to where urban mobility decarbonization actually happens in practice: courier fleet tracking and dynamic routing, digital parking management for urban logistics, transport optimization and air quality modeling, last-mile logistics data platforms, monitoring and evaluation, capacity building, and local and national policy development. Gender mainstreaming is a cross-cutting requirement rather than a separate workstream, and open-source software is the preferred output format. USD $300,000 per country is the envelope ceiling, with contractual services capped at 50 percent of total budget.

• Geographies: Argentina (Buenos Aires) and Ecuador (Quito). The broader ACCESS project spans six countries; only institutions based in Argentina or Ecuador are eligible for this call.

• Who can apply: Universities and non-governmental organizations that are non-profit entities registered and based in Argentina or Ecuador. Individual institutions or consortia may apply. For-profit organizations are not eligible. Required documentation: certificate of registration, last two annual reports, and two most recent audited financial reports.

• Funding amount: Up to USD $300,000 per country, total envelope up to USD $600,000 across both countries. Applicants must describe counterpart contributions (cash and in-kind). Contractual services cannot exceed 50 percent of total budget.

• Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Climate & Environment; Infrastructure & Urban Development; Innovation & Technology. Focus areas: low-carbon mobility, digitalization, e-mobility, urban logistics, transport policy.

• Deadline:June 5, 2026.

• Learn more and apply here.

The non-profit and country-registered eligibility filters are structurally enforced; international NGOs operating through local affiliates without local legal registration will not advance. The gender mainstreaming requirement is scored as a cross-cutting deliverable, not a checkbox; proposals that treat it as a separate workstream rather than embedded into the seven activities consistently underperform at evaluation.

Indonesia Mud Crab Sector Value Chain Analysis (consultancy RFP), Blue Carbon Plus.*New!* *Closing soon!*

Blue Carbon Plus’s Indonesia mud crab value chain analysis is a paid consultancy contract, not a grant, with the strategic intent of generating public-domain evidence that links smallholder fisher economics to mangrove protection at scale. The funder logic ties improved producer value capture to conservation incentive alignment: BC+’s working hypothesis is that stable market access and stable prices for small-scale fishing communities is what actually drives mangrove protection, not awareness campaigns or restoration grants alone. The RFP prioritizes local Indonesian firms in the USD $30,000 to $50,000 range, with international firms or local teams proposing expanded scope eligible up to USD $80,000 with explicit justification. The payment schedule is milestone-anchored: 10 percent at contract signing, 40 percent on Plan of Action acceptance (with termination rights for BC+ if the Plan is unsatisfactory), 50 percent on final report delivery. All intellectual property is retained by BC+ and outputs are placed in the public domain to encourage sector-wide adoption.

• Geographies: Indonesia (work site); applicant eligibility global. Local Indonesian firms prioritized. Fieldwork covers Indonesian mud crab production sites, regional collection hubs, and major export gateways (Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan).

• Who can apply: Consulting firms, individual consultants, and organizations (for-profit, nonprofit, or academic) with proven experience in sustainable aquaculture, fisheries value chain analysis, and financial and economic analysis. Required or preferred: Indonesian coastal and aquaculture policy familiarity, smallholder and community livelihoods experience, live mud crab handling and export knowledge, multi-stakeholder engagement capacity. Local Indonesian firms explicitly prioritized.

• Funding amount: USD $30,000 to $50,000 for local Indonesian firms; up to USD $80,000 for international firms or local teams with expanded scope and justification. Approximately 4-month engagement. Payment 10 percent at contract signing, 40 percent on Plan of Action acceptance, 50 percent on final report delivery.

• Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Climate & Environment; Economic Development & Livelihoods. Focus areas: mangrove blue carbon, smallholder fisheries, sustainable aquaculture, value chain economics, conservation incentive alignment.

• Deadline:June 5, 2026 at 11:59 PM EDT by email to info@bcplus.org with subject “Proposal – Value Chain Analysis Of Mud Crab”.

• Learn more and apply here.

BC+ is buying the analytical product, not subsidizing the consultant; the milestone payment structure with termination rights at the Plan of Action stage is the load-bearing quality gate. Local Indonesian firms enjoy explicit pricing preference; international firms must justify expanded scope on substantive analytical grounds, not just higher day rates.

GEF Small Grants Programme Eighth Operational Phase (Tranche 1) Gambia, UNDP Gambia.*New!* *Closing soon!*

UNDP’s GEF Small Grants Programme Eighth Operational Phase in Gambia is funding non-profit national organizations to deliver community-level environmental projects of up to USD $50,000 across five GEF Focal Areas: biodiversity conservation, climate change, land degradation, international waters, and chemicals and waste. The funder logic is deliberately locally-led: 70 percent of OP8 capital is committed to communities around Kiang West National Park, Jokadou National Park, and Bao Bolong Wetland Reserve, building on OP7 landscape investments rather than dispersing across the country, and only 30 percent is open to the rest of Gambia. The mandatory co-financing requirement (cash or in-kind, equal to or exceeding the requested grant amount) is the load-bearing investment-alignment filter; applicants without committed matching resources will not pass eligibility regardless of project quality. Women-led organizations and youth applicants are explicitly encouraged, and gender-responsive socially inclusive approaches targeting women, youth, and people with disabilities are required as cross-cutting design elements rather than optional add-ons.

• Geographies: The Gambia. 70 percent of funding committed to communities around Kiang West National Park, Jokadou National Park, and Bao Bolong Wetland Reserve; 30 percent open to the rest of Gambia.

• Who can apply: Non-profit national organizations registered in The Gambia (CSOs, CBOs, NGOs, Foundations, academic/research institutions). Must operate at community level with qualified personnel including a Finance Officer or Accountant. Must raise co-financing (cash or in-kind) equal to or exceeding the grant amount. Women-led organizations and youth applicants strongly encouraged. One submission per organization (joint proposal permitted as alternative).

• Funding amount: Up to USD $50,000 per grant. 1:1 co-finance ratio mandatory (cash or in-kind). Project duration up to 24 months.

• Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Climate & Environment; Agriculture & Food Systems; Energy. Focus areas: biodiversity, climate change, land degradation, international waters, chemicals and waste, community-based natural resource management.

• Deadline:June 5, 2026. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered. Revised versions will not be accepted.

• Learn more and apply here.

The 70/30 landscape geographic split is a hard scoring filter, not a preference; proposals outside the Kiang West, Jokadou, or Bao Bolong wetland landscape clusters are evaluated against only 30 percent of available capital. The 1:1 co-finance ratio is mandatory and verified at application; in-kind contributions must be quantifiable and committed in writing, not aspirational.

GEF Small Grants Programme Uzbekistan, GEF Small Grants Programme Uzbekistan.*New!* *Closing soon!*

The GEF Small Grants Programme in Uzbekistan, implemented by UNDP Uzbekistan with Global Environment Facility support, is funding community-based environmental initiatives of up to USD $50,000 across eight priority areas spanning biodiversity, sustainable land and water management, climate change, ecosystem restoration, sustainable agriculture and agroforestry, chemicals and waste, environmental awareness, and low-carbon and resource-efficient solutions including renewable energy. The funder logic concentrates capital at civil society infrastructure rather than government channels: registered NGOs, community-based organizations including Mahallas, associations, foundations, and non-commercial academic institutions are eligible, while government institutions, commercial entities, and profit-oriented organizations are explicitly excluded. The expectation of co-financing or in-kind contribution from applicants and partners is consistent with the GEF SGP model globally and reflects that the program intends to leverage rather than fully finance grantee work. Standard projects cap at USD $50,000 with strategic grants considered in exceptional cases subject to program priorities and approval procedures, which is an undefined upside category.

• Geographies: Uzbekistan (applicant and implementation). Open throughout the country.

• Who can apply: Registered NGOs, community-based organizations including Mahallas, associations, foundations, research and academic institutions (non-commercial), and other civil society organizations registered in Uzbekistan. Government institutions, state organizations, commercial entities, and profit-oriented organizations not eligible. Statutory activities must be thematically aligned with the proposed project.

• Funding amount: Up to USD $50,000 per standard project. Strategic grants may be considered in exceptional cases subject to program priorities. Co-financing or in-kind contribution expected.

• Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Climate & Environment; Agriculture & Food Systems. Focus areas: biodiversity conservation, sustainable land and water management, climate change mitigation and adaptation, ecosystem restoration, sustainable agriculture and agroforestry, chemicals and waste, renewable energy, environmental awareness.

• Deadline:June 5, 2026.

• Learn more and apply here.

The Mahalla-eligibility provision is distinctive to Uzbekistan: this is the only category in the GEF SGP global portfolio that channels capital to neighborhood-level traditional civic institutions, and applicants from Mahalla structures should foreground that institutional identity rather than positioning themselves as conventional CSOs.

USDA-FSIS Graduate Student Food Safety Fellowship, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).*New!* *Closing soon!*

This USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service Graduate Student Fellowship is funding doctoral students at U.S. institutions to conduct food safety research aligned with FSIS regulatory priorities, with dual mentorship from a university professor and an FSIS scientist as the structural design choice. The funder logic positions doctoral fellows as a workforce pipeline into U.S. food safety regulation: fellows present findings to FSIS senior leaders and scientists, may visit FSIS laboratories and regulated processing facilities, and are explicitly framed as the next-generation regulatory and research workforce rather than as research assistants. The fellowship is administered through Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education via the Department of Energy interagency agreement, which means fellows are not federal employees and receive no employment benefits. Research scope is open across laboratory and non-laboratory approaches including data analytics. U.S. citizenship and current enrollment at an accredited U.S. doctoral program are non-waivable filters, and individual applicants only; institutions cannot apply on behalf of researchers.

• Geographies: United States. Applicant must be a U.S. citizen enrolled at an accredited U.S. college, university, or technical institute.

• Who can apply: Individual U.S. citizens currently enrolled in and actively pursuing a doctoral degree in food science, food safety, public health, veterinary medicine, or a related field at an accredited U.S. institution. Individual applicants only. Not USDA, FSIS, DOE, or ORISE employees.

• Funding amount: USD $1,800 per month stipend plus USD $6,000 total for travel or research supplies (annualized package approximately USD $27,600). Appointment is part-time, one year initially, renewable contingent on FSIS recommendation and fund availability.

• Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Agriculture & Food Systems; Health. Focus areas: food safety regulation, regulatory science, applied food safety research, food safety workforce development.

• Deadline:June 5, 2026 at 3:00 PM Eastern Time. Anticipated start August 3, 2026 (flexible).

• Learn more and apply here.

U.S. citizenship and current enrollment at an accredited U.S. doctoral institution are non-waivable structural filters; international students at U.S. universities and U.S. citizens at international institutions are both ineligible. The dual-mentor requirement is enforced at application: the university mentor’s letter of support must specify how the mentor will support the research, not just confirm willingness.

ICCA-GSI Phase 2 Call for Proposals Malaysia, GEF Small Grants Programme Malaysia.*New!* *Closing soon!*

GEF Small Grants Programme Malaysia’s ICCA-GSI Phase 2 call, implemented by UNDP and funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry through the ICCA Global Support Initiative, is funding community-led conservation and governance under two work packages: ICCA Demonstration Sites (up to four pilot projects for community-led identification, mapping, restoration, and management aligned with the OECM framework) and Capacity Building and Youth Leadership (strengthening Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities for ICCA governance). The funder logic is rights-based and IPLC-led rather than expert-led: government institutions, state-owned enterprises, and international organizations are explicitly excluded, and Work Package 1 must be led by Indigenous Peoples or local communities in partnership with civil society where relevant. Priority landscapes and seascapes concentrate in Pahang, Johor, Sabah, and Sarawak. Regular grants up to USD $40,000 per project for implementation up to 18 months. Proposals must align with Global Biodiversity Framework Targets 3, 21, 22, or 23 and include a results framework with GBF and IKI indicators.

• Geographies: Malaysia. Priority landscapes/seascapes in Pahang (Kuantan, Jerantut, Maran, Temerloh, Pekan, Bera, Rompin), Johor (Mersing, Kota Tinggi), Sabah (Kudat, Kota Kinabalu, Kota Marudu, Pitas, Tuaran, Kota Belud, Ranau), and Sarawak (Asajaya, Kuching, Samarahan, Lubok Antu, Betong, Pusa, Sri Aman, Simunjan, Lundu, Bau, Serian).

• Who can apply: National entities only. Community-Based Organizations, NGOs, CSOs (including academic and training institutions), Social Enterprises, Indigenous Peoples’ organizations, Women and Youth Groups, Persons with disabilities, and Communities. Government institutions (including public academic institutions), state-owned enterprises, and international organizations not eligible. Applicants may submit under one work package only.

• Funding amount: Up to USD $40,000 per project (regular grants). Implementation up to 18 months. Co-financing encouraged but not required.

• Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Climate & Environment. Focus areas: ICCA governance, community-led conservation, IPLC rights, OECM framework, biodiversity, youth leadership.

• Deadline:June 7, 2026 at 11:59 PM Malaysian Time by email to sgp.my@undp.org.

• Learn more and apply here.

Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities must lead Work Package 1 applications; civil society partners may participate but cannot lead. The four priority states (Pahang, Johor, Sabah, Sarawak) are not a strict filter (other landscapes may be considered if no suitable priority-region proposals arrive), but applicants outside the priority list compete only for residual capacity.

ICMM Young Leaders Scholarship 2026 (One Young World Summit), International Council on Mining and Metals.*New!* *Closing soon!*

The ICMM Young Leaders Scholarship is a non-monetary in-kind scholarship for outstanding young leaders aged 18 to 35 to attend the One Young World Summit 2026 in Cape Town, with travel, accommodation, and lifelong One Young World Ambassador membership covered. The funder logic positions the scholarship as the mining industry’s most visible youth-leadership investment: the International Council on Mining and Metals names five priority impact areas (biodiversity conservation, decarbonization, responsible natural resource production, social performance including community resilience and human rights, and sustainability communications), and the scholarship architecture provides exclusive sidelines engagement with the ICMM CEO at the Summit, indicating that this is corporate-engagement infrastructure for the responsible-mining industry as much as it is leadership development. Post-summit benefits include Action Accelerator access, expert-led mentor sessions, and the Global Kickstart Programme, so the structural value to selected scholars substantially exceeds the in-kind summit-attendance value. No cash disbursement is provided. Selection emphasizes proven impact across the five priority areas; demonstrated personal initiative is required.

• Geographies: Global. One Young World operates in 190+ countries; Summit venue Cape Town, South Africa November 3 to 6, 2026.

• Who can apply: Individual young leaders aged 18 to 35 at the time of the Summit. Applicants must demonstrate proven impact in at least one of: biodiversity conservation; decarbonization; responsible natural resource production; social performance (community resilience, human rights); promoting and communicating action on sustainability. Candidates older than 35 may be considered with demonstrated impact and initiative.

• Funding amount: Non-monetary in-kind scholarship. Travel and accommodation to One Young World Summit 2026; exclusive dialogue with ICMM CEO; lifelong One Young World Ambassador Community membership; Action Accelerator access; expert-led mentor sessions; Global Kickstart Programme. No cash disbursement; monetary value not stated.

• Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Climate & Environment. Focus areas: youth leadership, responsible mining, biodiversity, decarbonization, social performance, sustainability communications.

• Deadline:June 7, 2026.

• Learn more and nominate here.

The five priority impact areas function as positioning categories: applicants without proven impact in at least one of biodiversity conservation, decarbonization, responsible natural resource production, social performance, or sustainability communications will not advance. Applicants whose work is broadly sustainability-adjacent should foreground the priority area where impact is strongest rather than spreading equally across multiple.

Collaborative Impact Partnership Grant 2026, Sustainable Future Foundation.*New!* *Closing soon!*

The Sustainable Future Foundation’s Collaborative Impact Partnership is a single-grant-per-year program that combines CHF 50,000 in cash funding (approximately USD $57,000) with monthly project review meetings, adaptive learning support, and communications visibility, awarded to one non-profit, NGO, or community organization working on a high-potential social or environmental project in a low- or middle-income country. The funder logic is deep-engagement rather than portfolio breadth: by funding one organization per year and committing to regular strategic check-ins and monthly reviews, the foundation operates more like an embedded advisor than a grant-making body. Priority SDGs are Quality Education (SDG 4), Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6), Climate Action (SDG 13), and Life on Land (SDG 15), though other SDGs are considered. Both early-stage and established projects are eligible, and co-funded initiatives are explicitly accepted. The initial partnership covers one year of funded program activity with the possibility of extension based on outcomes, so this is a relationship investment, not a one-time grant.

• Geographies: Low- and middle-income countries only. Projects in high-income countries explicitly ineligible. No specific regions or countries named.

• Who can apply: Non-profit organizations, NGOs, community organizations, and social initiatives working in LMICs. For-profit businesses explicitly ineligible. Must have capacity to implement locally within target community. Both early-stage and established projects eligible. Co-funded initiatives accepted.

• Funding amount: CHF 50,000 (approximately USD $57,000) cash to one organization per year, plus regular strategic check-ins, monthly project reviews, and communications support. One-year funded program activity with possibility of extension.

• Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Climate & Environment. Priority SDGs 4, 6, 13, 15. Focus areas: high-potential social or environmental projects in LMICs.

• Deadline:June 8, 2026.

• Learn more and apply here.

This is a single-winner annual grant; with a one-in-N pool, applicants whose work falls outside the four priority SDGs (Education, WASH, Climate Action, Life on Land) face structurally lower odds even though other SDGs are technically considered. The monthly-review commitment is a real ongoing obligation; organizations without bandwidth should reconsider.

Implementing Climate-Smart Dairy Initiatives for Vulnerable Communities in Kilinochchi District (JSB CP-5), UNDP Sri Lanka.*New!* *Closing soon!*

UNDP Sri Lanka is funding national and international NGOs and Civil Society Organizations to implement climate-smart dairy initiatives in Kilinochchi District under the Japanese Supplementary Budget CP-5 Project, with the strategic intent of establishing an integrated climate-smart dairy ecosystem that combines green technologies, sustainable farming practices, and market-driven solutions in a post-conflict, climate-vulnerable Northern Province district. The funder logic positions dairy value chain decarbonization as a co-benefit program rather than a single-issue intervention: emissions reduction, dairy yield enhancement, and adaptive capacity building among vulnerable communities all sit inside one project envelope, and women and youth are named as priority beneficiaries rather than incidental ones. Secondary news sources cite a total JSB CP-5 envelope of USD $1.5 million from the Government of Japan, although per-award amounts are not stated on the official procurement notice and full eligibility conditions sit only in the solicitation document accessible after UN Quantum Supplier Portal registration. Kilinochchi was cited at 70 percent vulnerability in UNDP’s 2023 Multidimensional Vulnerability Index.

• Geographies: Kilinochchi District, Northern Province, Sri Lanka. Post-conflict and climate-vulnerable district. Applicants may be national or international.

• Who can apply: National and international NGOs and Civil Society Organizations. Supplier profile registration in UN Quantum Supplier Portal required prior to submission. Full eligibility in solicitation document accessible after portal registration (UNDP-LKA-00694).

• Funding amount: Per-award amounts not stated on the official procurement notice. Secondary news sources cite a total JSB CP-5 envelope of USD $1.5 million from the Government of Japan. Verify in solicitation document.

• Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Agriculture & Food Systems; Climate & Environment. Focus areas: climate-smart dairy, livestock GHG emissions, sustainable farming, vulnerable community resilience, post-conflict recovery.

• Deadline:June 8, 2026 at 04:30 AM New York time via UN Quantum Supplier Portal.

• Learn more and apply here.

The full RFP including per-award amounts and technical specifications is accessible only after registering a supplier profile in the UN Quantum Supplier Portal; applicants should complete portal registration well in advance of the June 8 deadline. Both national and international NGOs are eligible, but local implementation capacity in Kilinochchi District is the substantive selection lever.

PRIMARY Open Call for Financial Support to Third Parties,PRIMARY Project. *Closing soon!*

PRIMARY is using this Horizon Europe open call to push bioeconomy solutions beyond the consortium and into new rural regions, funding local stakeholder consortia to test and validate real-world upcycling value chains for underutilized agricultural residues. The funder’s logic is replication and proof: selected teams must adapt at least one of PRIMARY’s processing concepts while simultaneously validating a practical business model blueprint that can work for farmers, cooperatives, or SMEs under local conditions. The call is designed to generate evidence that matters for scale, including technical performance, operational feasibility, and economic viability, while building knowledge transfer across regions through active stakeholder engagement. Importantly, it targets areas with limited existing pilot or demonstration infrastructure, aiming to unlock new local processing capacity and create durable, circular value chains rooted in residue streams like grass, greenhouse by-products, cotton residues, and olive pruning biomass.

• Geographies: Rural European regions in Horizon Europe eligible countries (excluding PRIMARY pilot regions).

• Who can apply: Consortia of 2–3 eligible legal entities with at least one technical partner and one end-user partner.

• Funding amount: EUR €100,000 (2 partners) or EUR €150,000 (3 partners); Total pool: EUR €900,000.

• Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Agriculture & Food Systems; Focus areas: agricultural residues, biomass valorization, circular bioeconomy, rural value chains.

• Deadline:June 8, 2026 (17:00 CEST); Clarification questions due June 5, 2026 (17:00 CEST).

• Learn more and apply here.

This is a replication engine: PRIMARY is funding local consortia to turn residue streams into operating businesses, producing the feasibility evidence needed to scale circular bioeconomy models across rural Europe.

Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust Grants (2026 cycle), The Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust. *Closing soon!*

The Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust seeks to advance ornamental horticulture by funding projects that strengthen research, education, and public-facing horticultural assets, especially where organizations can translate applied knowledge into better plant stewardship and public learning. The Trust’s framing is intentionally specific: it backs work that directly furthers ornamental horticulture (not broad agriculture, general environmental issues, or science education), with a portfolio spanning research and publication, public garden improvements for educational access, responsible introduction and cultivation of ornamentals, and practical publications for practitioners and the public. Structurally, the Trust uses a competitive two-step process (LOI first, then invited proposals), signaling a preference for sharply aligned projects with clear relevance and strong execution readiness within a defined next-calendar-year grant period.

• Geographies: North America, South America, Central America, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand.

• Who can apply: 501(c)(3) public charities, tax-exempt government entities, and eligible non-U.S. charities (public charity equivalency required); grantees must be based in eligible geographies.

• Funding amount: USD $25,000 maximum; grants normally do not exceed USD $20,000.

• Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Climate & Environment; Focus areas: ornamental horticulture, public gardens, plant trials, publications, horticultural education, accessibility improvements.

• Deadline: Registration: June 8, 2026; LOI: June 15, 2026; Invited full proposal: July 15, 2026.

• Learn more and apply here.

This is a precision-fit fund: the strongest applications make ornamental horticulture the core outcome and show how project outputs will persist and be used beyond the grant year.

BIONetZero Open Call (4-stage SME accelerator), Food & Bio Cluster Denmark.*New!* *Closing soon!*

BIONetZero is a 36-month European accelerator program co-funded by the EU SMP-COSME Euroclusters framework and coordinated by Food & Bio Cluster Denmark with consortium partners across Italy, Germany, and Slovakia. The program supports SMEs and startups developing pre-commercial biosolutions at TRL 4 to 8 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and critical raw material dependency in agrifood and energy-intensive industries. The funder logic is a four-stage cascade designed to filter SMEs by commercial readiness rather than fund a single tranche: Stage 1 provides a EUR €3,500 travel grant for the mandatory kick-off in Denmark; Stage 2 a EUR €15,000 tech grant for testing and validation; Stage 3 a EUR €40,000 implementation grant for scaling and market-readiness; Stage 4 a EUR €5,000 internationalization booster for entering third-country markets. All grants are reimbursement-based and require 25 percent co-financing. The United Kingdom is explicitly excluded; eligible countries are EU-27, EEA, and SMP-associated states. Individual SME applications only; consortia are not eligible.

• Geographies: EU-27 plus EEA (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein) plus Single Market Programme associated countries (Montenegro, North Macedonia, Turkey, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine, Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Kosovo). United Kingdom explicitly excluded.

• Who can apply: Innovative SMEs and startups per the EU SME definition, legally established in eligible country, with bio-based product/process/service at TRL 4 to 8 focused on agrifood or energy-intensive industries. Must attend mandatory kick-off in Denmark September 7 to 10, 2026. Must provide 25 percent co-financing. Individual SME applications only; no consortia.

• Funding amount: Up to EUR €60,000 per SME across four stages (approximately USD $65,200). Stage 1 EUR €3,500 travel grant; Stage 2 EUR €15,000 tech grant; Stage 3 EUR €40,000 implementation grant; Stage 4 EUR €5,000 internationalization booster. Reimbursement-based; 25 percent co-financing required. Total funding pool EUR €1,970,000.

• Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Climate & Environment; Agriculture & Food Systems; Energy. Focus areas: biosolutions, agrifood biotechnology, industrial decarbonization, critical raw material substitution.

• Deadline:June 9, 2026 at 17:00 CET via Podio webform.

• Learn more and apply here.

The cascade-stage design lets BIONetZero filter for SMEs that can convert each tranche into the next stage’s milestone; applicants who treat the program as a single EUR €60,000 grant rather than four sequential gates struggle at Stage 1 to Stage 2 progression. Reimbursement-based payment puts cash flow risk on the applicant, not the funder.

CIRCULOOS Open Call 3.2 (Value-Chain Extension & Enhance), CIRCULOOS (Horizon Europe project).*New!* *Closing soon!*

CIRCULOOS Open Call 3.2 is a Horizon Europe cascade-funded sub-grant competition under the Circular and Dynamic Manufacturing Supply Chain Orchestration project, inviting single entities to join existing circular manufacturing value chains by addressing specific missing links: technical bottlenecks, supply shortages, or market access gaps. Two complementary tracks structure the call: Track A (OC2 Enhance) adds new partners to one of 15 demonstrators previously funded under Open Call 2; Track B (Pilot Extensions) extends three core CIRCULOOS pilot value chains in Wood, Leather, and Plastic sectors. The funder logic is ecosystem-completion rather than open-ended innovation: applicants do not propose new value chains, they integrate into existing ones, and adopting the mandatory CIRCULOOS digital tools (RAMP Marketplace and Circuloos Data Platform) plus Life Cycle Assessment validation is a non-negotiable condition of grant disbursement. Fixed lump sum up to EUR €60,000 per entity (60 percent funding rate for commercial entities; 100 percent for RTOs and universities) for a 6-month program, approximately 10 entities funded from EUR €600,000.

• Geographies: EU-27 plus Horizon Europe Associated Countries. No geographic proximity requirement to specific supply chain being joined.

• Who can apply: Single entities only (no consortia). Manufacturing European Mid-Caps, MSMEs, and Micro-SMEs; Circular Economy Enablers (recyclers, waste collectors, upcyclers, repairers); Technology Providers and System Integrators (AI, automation, robotics, sorting, data management); RTOs and Universities (eligible only if deploying a specific technical solution by integrating into the pilot). EU-27 or Horizon Europe Associated Country established; validated PIC number required.

• Funding amount: Fixed Lump Sum up to EUR €60,000 per entity (approximately USD $65,200); 60 percent funding rate for commercial entities (40 percent co-funding required), 100 percent for RTOs and universities. Total call budget approximately EUR €600,000 for approximately 10 entities. 6-month implementation program.

• Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Climate & Environment. Focus areas: circular manufacturing, value-chain integration, Wood/Leather/Plastic sectors, mandatory digital tool adoption.

• Deadline:June 10, 2026.

• Learn more and apply here.

Consortia are not eligible; only single entities can apply, and submitting multiple applications to the same track triggers automatic disqualification. Entities may apply to both Track A and Track B simultaneously but receive funding under only one. RTOs and universities are eligible only if deploying a specific technical solution into the pilot, not for general research.