The Milkywire Climate Transformation Fund (CTF) 2024 (Over 150,000 USD)

Selection criteria

Restoring and protecting nature We will support screened and vetted organizations that preserve forests and ecosystems and restore degraded areas. This helps reduce emissions, absorb CO₂ and conserve our nature globally. See projects supported here.

Requirements:

• Projects either protecting or increasing carbon stocks in nature.

• Organization is screened and vetted by Milkywire or a third party.

• Sustainable from a social and local environmental perspective. The deployment of the project does not cause harm to people or local ecosystems.

Criteria:

• Co-benefits. Projects are given a higher priority if they create benefits for people in poverty, or if they help ecosystems in other ways beyond storing more carbon.

• Catalytic effect of donation. We prefer projects that be replicated, spread to new communities, or help create new innovative solutions.

Permanent carbon removal solutions To stop the climate crisis, we must cut CO₂ emissions in half over the next 10 years and then bring them close to zero. But science shows that emissions reductions won’t be enough to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Therefore, we must also remove excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it permanently. By supporting new ways of removing and storing carbon, we contribute to these methods developing and becoming cheaper for others to implement.

For methods where there is no supply of carbon removal certificates we will also consider supporting research, helping new methods prove its concept and become operational.

Requirements:

• Happening now, the CO₂ is captured in the coming year(s), not decades from now.

• High additionality, the tonnes removed wouldn’t happen without someone paying for it.

• Sustainable from a social and local environmental perspective. The deployment of the project does not cause harm to people or local ecosystems.

Criteria:

• Potential. The method has the potential to become a large part of the solution to the climate crisis.

• A catalytic effect. Our donation or purchase of removal certificates leads to a larger growth of the method than just the tonnes that we purchase.

• Durability (permanence). The CO₂ should ideally be stored away for hundreds or thousands of years.

• Certainty of the project happening as agreed.

• Co-benefits. Projects are given a higher priority if they create benefits for people in poverty, or if they help ecosystems in other ways beyond storing more carbon.

When credits or certificates are bought they will be retired, which means they cannot be resold and will not be counted as a financial instrument.

Decarbonization / Getting off fossil fuels  We will support effective projects that reduce emissions but are not profitable enough to happen on their own, this can for example be building renewable energy to replace fossil fuels in remote locations. We will also support civil society organizations that are effective in advancing efforts to accelerate the phase-out of fossil fuels.

Requirements and Criteria:

A) Renewable energy

Requirements: 

• Sustainable from a social and local environmental perspective. The deployment of the project does not cause harm to people or local ecosystems.

• Vetted by a third party, or certified.

Criteria: 

• High additionality. We want to support projects that are unlikely to happen without our support, (it is for example unlikely we would support a project if similar projects are happening without donations or sale of carbon credits).

• Catalytic effect. Potential of the type of solution to scale and create impact outside of the project boundaries (for example by being a first of kind project for a new solution).

• Co-benefits. Projects are given a higher priority if they create benefits for people in poverty, or if they help ecosystems in other ways beyond storing more carbon.

B) Projects for policy change

Requirements:

• We get to earmark the donation to a specific project or stream of work rather than giving general funds to the organization.

• Organization is screened and vetted by Milkywire or a third party.

Criteria:

• Potential effect of the policy proposals advocated for by the organization.

• Track-record of organization in bringing about concrete policy change.

• Chance of the project happening without the donation (lower chance, higher grade).

For more information and application.