Climate

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Climate focus area

We are dedicated to tackling the climate crisis and supporting communities coast to coast to coast in transitioning to net-zero carbon. On this page, you will find further information about the Climate Focus Area, its funding strategies, and the eligibility criteria for potential applicants.

What is net zero carbon? 

“Put simply, net zero means cutting greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible, with any remaining emissions re-absorbed from the atmosphere, by oceans and forests for instance.”  – United Nations Net Zero Coalition

Approach

Communities are already experiencing the impacts of climate change. More frequent and severe natural disasters (flooding, tornados, heat waves, forest fires, droughts, etc.,) are threatening our food production, our homes, our roads and bridges and our ways of earning a living. Experts agree that the cost of inaction and adaptation to climate impacts will be far greater than the costs of taking action now.

We recognize that the impacts of the climate crisis are not experienced evenly across society, meaning some communities are more severely impacted. For example, melting permafrost, changing ice patterns and changing migration of animals are especially damaging to Indigenous ways of life, and it is often Indigenous communities’ lands and waters that are most polluted by fossil fuel projects. It is inadequately housed Canadians and those most at risk, such as the elderly who experience the highest mortality rates during heat waves. Critical to tackling the climate crisis is to support communities most impacted in designing and implementing solutions.

We recognize that this is a field in rapid evolution, and we are always open to learning about new approaches. We invite you to book a 15-minute appointment with our team, and we can determine if we are the right partner for your project.

What we fund

Line drawing a wind turbine and clouds surrounded by a yellow version of the McConnell logo. Connected to the logo are the three Climate funding strategies: Climate Mitigation (projects that address systemic barriers to carbon emissions reductions), Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (projects representing Indigenous, and racialized groups that seek to empower their communities in improving their resiliency to climate impacts), and Climate Finance (projects that innovate the financial sector in Canada by address data and knowledge gaps for institutions, investors, pensions funds, etc).
Line drawing a wind turbine and clouds surrounded by a yellow version of the McConnell logo. Connected to the logo are the three Climate funding strategies: Climate Mitigation (projects that address systemic barriers to carbon emissions reductions), Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (projects representing Indigenous, and racialized groups that seek to empower their communities in improving their resiliency to climate impacts), and Climate Finance (projects that innovate the financial sector in Canada by address data and knowledge gaps for institutions, investors, pensions funds, etc).

We want to help fund activities that support climate mitigation solutions, projects that empower Indigenous, racialized, and otherwise marginalized groups to improve their climate resiliency and engage in solutions, and climate finance projects that seek to innovate the financial sector in Canada. Learn more below.

$10.4M

in contributions

In 2022, we allocated $10.4 million to our Climate focus area and supported 61 organizations working to accelerate an equitable transition to a net-zero carbon economy.

Our funding streams

Please note that the Climate Change Focus Area is not currently accepting applications area. Updates will be provided as they become available. Read our news post to learn more.

 

With this Focus Area, we seek to support organizations contributing to at least one of the following strategies: 

  • Climate Mitigation Solutions:
    Projects that seek to address systemic barriers to carbon emissions reductions. Specifically, we are looking for projects addressing high-emitting sectors that can demonstrate a pathway to net-zero carbon by 2050. 
  • Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: 
    Projects representing:
    -Indigenous, racialized, and/or youth groups;
    – Communities who depend on and/or are impacted by fossil fuel industries; or
    – Otherwise marginalized groups that seek to empower communities to improve their resiliency to climate impacts or engage in climate mitigation solutions. 
  • Climate Finance:
    Projects that seek to innovate the financial sector in Canada by addressing specific data and knowledge gaps for financial institutions, investors, pension funds and the corporate sector. This includes strengthening climate risk disclosure practices, decarbonizing investment portfolios, establishing science-based climate plans and advancing equitable participation in climate finance and capital investments in the energy transition. 

 

To learn more about the questions and criteria for all three funding strategies, please read our Sample Application Form. 

Recent funding

Below are a few of our most recent Climate funding partnerships. Explore our Funding database to view all our Climate partnerships.

Funding will contribute to implement the Find an Independent Mining Expert (FAIME) database in Canada.

$ 300,000 2023 - 2026

Funding will contribute to data collection and analysis to provide sector-specific information on climate investments.

$ 240,000 2023 - 2026

Funding will contribute to the Vision 2030 collaborative project to address sector priorities for environmental non-profit organizations.

$ 250,000 2023 - 2026

Funding will contribute to develop federal policy recommendations to support low-income Canadians to reduce their carbon emissions and be more resilient to climate.

$ 308,000 2023 - 2024

Funding will identify sectors where labour disruptions are expected as a result of the transition to a net-zero carbon economy.

$ 140,000 2023 - 2026

Funding will provide tools and data to youth in business, engineering and law schools to help guide their career choices toward sustainable employers. The project will equip young employees to engage with their employer to become more sustainable. 

$ 240,000 2023 - 2026

Learn more about how to apply for Climate funding on our For Applicants page.