Many of the strategies for increasing climate resilience come with a price tag. In the United States, a range of government entities and private foundations offer financial and technical resources to advance local adaptation and mitigation efforts. For your convenience, we've listed some of them here. Please follow the external link for any program to learn more.

  • NOAA 2017 Coastal Resilience Grants

    This Program will support two categories of activities:

    • Strengthening Coastal Communities: activities that improve capacity of multiple coastal jurisdictions (states, counties, municipalities, territories, and tribes) to prepare and plan for, absorb impacts of, recover from, and/or adapt to extreme weather events and climate-related hazards.

    • Habitat Restoration: activities that restore habitat to strengthen the resilience of coastal ecosystems and decrease the vulnerability of coastal communities to extreme weather events and climate-related hazards.

    Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, regional organizations, private entities, and local, state, and tribal governments. Typical award amounts will range from $250,000 to $1 million for projects lasting up to three years. Cost-sharing through cash or in-kind contributions is expected. Projects must be located in one or more of the 35 U.S. coastal states or territories. Closing date for the opportunity is March 15, 2017. View the Grant Opportunity on Grants.gov.

  • AmeriCorps State and National Competitive Grants FY 2017

    Eligible organizations may compete for grant funds by proposing to engage AmeriCorps members in evidence-based or evidence-informed interventions to strengthen communities. An AmeriCorps member is an individual who engages in community service through an approved national service position. Application closes January 18, 2017. Learn more about the AmeriCorps State and National Grants »

  • U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities: Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grant Program

    The goal of the Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grant Program is to accelerate protection and enhancement of healthy watersheds. The Healthy Watersheds Consortium site offers a webinar, slides, project examples, and other resources to assist potential applicants. The deadline for proposals is February 1, 2017.

  • EPA Smart Growth Grants and Other Funding

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Sustainable Communities occasionally offers grants to support activities that improve the quality of development and protect human health and the environment.

  • Partnership for Sustainable Communities

    The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) work together to help communities nationwide improve access to affordable housing, increase transportation options, and lower transportation costs while protecting the environment. The site's map of grants shows information on awards already made through Partnership programs.

  • FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) Preparedness (Non-Disaster) Grants

    FEMA provides state and local governments with preparedness program funding to enhance the capacity of their emergency responders to prevent, respond to, and recover from a range of hazards.

  • FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance

    FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Assistance grant programs provide funding to protect life and property from future natural disasters.

  • Drought Recovery Information

    This page from the National Integrated Drought Information System describes support that may be available through federal agencies for both short- and long-term impacts of drought. Links lead to information regarding financial and technical assistance, disaster assistance programs, economic injury loans, and assistance in implementing conservation practices.

  • USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

    NRCS offers voluntary programs to eligible landowners and agricultural producers to provide financial and technical assistance to help manage natural resources in a sustainable manner. Programs include:

    • The Agricultural Management Assistance Program helps agricultural producers use conservation to manage risk and address natural resource issues through natural resources conservation.
    • Conservation Innovation Grants offer funding opportunities at the state level to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies that leverage federal investment in environmental enhancement and protection.
    • The Conservation Stewardship Program helps agricultural producers maintain and improve their existing conservation systems and adopt additional conservation activities to address priority resources concerns. Participants earn CSP payments for conservation performance—the higher the performance, the higher the payment.
    • The Environmental Quality Incentives Program provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers in order to address natural resource concerns and deliver environmental benefits, such as improved water and air quality, conserved ground and surface water, reduced soil erosion and sedimentation, or improved or created wildlife habitat.

  • Federal Funding Compendium for Urban Heat Adaptation – Published December 2013

    The Georgetown Climate Center produced an in-depth document that collected and analyzed information relating to 44 separate federal programs that could support cities and states in reducing the impacts of urban heat. While federal funding sources are often dependent on appropriations, this list may be useful for finding federal funding opportunities for climate-related work.

  • Tribal Climate Change Guide to Funding, Science, Programs and Adaptation Plans

    This sortable spreadsheet can help tribes find potential funding sources and other resources. Maintained by University of Oregon.

  • Massachusetts’ Storm-Smart Coasts Initiative

    This Massachusetts-only grant program provides financial and technical resources to advance innovative local efforts to increase awareness of climate impacts, identify vulnerabilities and risks, and implement measures to increase community resilience.

  • Kresge Environment Program

    The Kresge Foundation Environment Program seeks to help communities build resilience in the face of climate change. They invest in climate resilience through two primary strategies:

    1. Accelerating place-based innovation through support to efforts that are anchored in cities and have a strong potential to serve as models.
    2. Building the climate-resilience field by supporting activities to disseminate and bring to scale promising climate-resilience approaches.

  • Wildlife Conservation Society's Climate Adaptation Fund

    This fund supports projects that demonstrate effective interventions for wildlife adaptation to climate change.

  • Climate Solutions University

    The Climate Solutions University aids rural communities by offering training, expertise, and support in climate adaptation planning through a peer-learning network. In the past, the organization has offered two distance-learning programs: the Climate Adaptation Plan Development Program focuses on forest and water resource resilience, and the  Climate Adaptation Plan Implementation Program supports participants in moving the plan into action. 

  • Open Space Institute Resilient Landscape Initiative

    The Resilient Landscapes Initiative, supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, offers two types of grants for specified locations in the eastern United States. The group’s Capital Grants help land trusts and public agencies increase the conservation of resilient landscapes in areas that represent critical climate priorities. The group’s Catalyst Grants help land trusts and public agencies build the knowledge base of key audiences and advance the practical application of climate science.

Last modified: 29 June 2016 - 5:00pm