Deadline: June 9th, 2023
The Catalytic Climate Finance Facility (CC Facility) is focused on scaling sustainable climate finance by providing market acceleration services to early-stage and market-ready blended financial vehicles in under-financed sectors in developing countries. It is a partnership between Convergence and Climate Policy Initiative to bring a holistic solution in a fragmented market to accelerate the implementation of high-impact blended finance vehicles catalyzing private capital to close the climate financing gap.
The CC Facility will aim to help early-stage and market-ready structures become investable solutions, helping to grow the climate finance ecosystem. It seeks to contribute to building a market that will unlock the most innovative structures that can be standardized, replicated, and scaled. The support for climate solutions through a strategic and bundled package of grant funding and customized technical assistance to address the key barriers preventing development and mobilization of private capital, as well as additional benefits holistically provided throughout the program.
Grant Funding
Up to 500,000 U.S. dollars over 12 to 18 months to test, structure, launch, and expand solutions. Funding will be conditional, subject to achieving predetermined milestones and associated deliverables. Grant funding exclusively for the design and launch of the solution and grant amounts will be dependent on the resource needs for the solutions stage of development. These stages include: feasibility, planning, proof-of-concept and expansion.
Acceleration Support
Customized technical assistance over 12 to 18 months to build capabilities that would accelerate the market roll-out of blended climate finance solutions. It includes a comprehensive offering of technical assistance services focused on strategy, fundraising, and operations. Support will proactively address key barriers, lowering the risk of investments.
ELIGIBILITY
The CC Facility provides funding for blended finance vehicles targeting climate change issues in developing countries. Applications will be assessed based on a set of qualifying characteristics and key evaluation criteria.
Qualifying Characteristics:
- Investment theme: solutions addressing climate adaptation and/or mitigation.
- Sectors: broad range of sectors.
- Geography: developing countries. Applicants do not need to be domiciled in a developing country but end beneficiaries and target activities must. Preference will be given to local applicants who demonstrate a nuanced understanding of local contexts and engagement with local stakeholders where relevant.
- Stage: The focus will be on early-stage solutions that are going through an early adoption stage with a proven proof-of-concept or pilot. We are looking for solutions that have a structure that is already developed, budget and financial model, and identification of sources of funding.
- Team & local capacity: proven track record and experience in targeted sector and geography, capacity and willingness to engage with the program, and on-the-ground presence
- Entity type: organizations or consortium of organizations, including advisory firms, foundations, not-for-profit, fund managers, and private enterprises. The lead organization must be able to provide proof of incorporation and financial statements for the previous fiscal year.
- Key Evaluation Criteria
- Additionality: addresses climate finance barriers or a market failure in a new or more efficient way than existing solutions. Shows higher degree of additionality through the impact delivered.
- Catalytic potential: demonstrates ability to achieve socioeconomic and environmental impacts, prioritizing enhancement of local capacity through knowledge and technology transfer. Shows scalability and replicability potential and a nuanced understanding of the local context(s).
- Financial sustainability: demonstrates likelihood of achieving financial close, including team’s ability to implement the solution and having a strategic plan for market viability.
- Gender equality: show responsiveness to relevant gender risks and opportunities. Intentionally integrates gender considerations across operations and anticipates positive outcomes for gender equality.
- Mobilization: shows potential to mobilize private capital and to attract participation from new segments of investors. Shows that vehicle is bankable/investable.
Thematic Stream
The open call for proposals will have a special focus on solutions targeting sustainable agriculture and adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
APPLICATION
Applications to the CC Facility are now open. To participate in the program, carefully review the Eligibility section above and complete the Concept Note form before June 9th, 2023.
Concept Notes will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so we highly encourage applicants to apply sooner in order to have sufficient time to develop the full application.
We will make additional arrangements at the Concept Note review stage to support applicants from developing countries by helping them enhance the quality of their full application to the CC Facility. This is part of our larger effort to enhance local capacity in developing countries and deploy locally aligned transformative solutions. As such, we strongly encourage organizations in developing countries to apply.
For more information and application.