Carbon Landscapes

Mackenzie River. Photo: NASA Earth Observatory

Overview

How to Apply

Advancing natural climate solutions across Canada.

Canada has a globally significant role and responsibility to help protect, restore, and steward some of Earth’s most vital life-support systems. The country is home to 25% of Earth’s wetlands and boreal forests, 20% of the planet’s freshwater, the longest coastline in the world, and critically endangered ecosystems like the prairie grasslands.

Natural climate solutions reduce emissions and increase the amount of carbon stored in nature through the protection, restoration, and stewardship of terrestrial and marine ecosystems.

Carbon Landscapes has a two-track funding strategy to advance natural climate solutions across Canada: (1) Build sector capacity, intellectual leadership, and public understanding of natural climate solutions to enable greater action at both the policy and community levels, and (2) Support a targeted set of on-the-ground protection, restoration, and stewardship efforts that benefit biodiversity, sustain livelihoods, and mitigate climate change.

About

Carbon Landscapes has a two-track funding strategy to help advance natural climate solutions across Canada.

Funding Strategy 1
Build sector capacity, intellectual leadership, and public understanding of linkages between climate action, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable livelihoods, to create space and support for advancing natural climate solutions across Canada. Examples of the type of work supported under this strategy include a mix of complementary and often combined activities, such as:

Public Policy Research and Analysis
Funding to produce timely, well-researched, and accessible reports to inform the design of new policies and programs, financing mechanisms, legal frameworks, and other levers to support natural climate solutions.

Convening and Collaboration
Funding to convene community leaders, non-governmental organizations, scientists, industry, and government officials to build bridges and common understanding of challenges and opportunities at the intersection of climate action, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable livelihoods. Granting in this area would help convene leaders from within and across sectors to better link, coordinate, and advance mutually supportive activities.

Communications and Public Education
Funding to establish a public narrative and heightened level of awareness among Canadians and public officials of natural climate solutions. This will create public space and support for integrating and strengthening natural climate solutions as part of provincial, territorial, national, and international climate action.

Please note: we do not accept proposals for local, geographically-specific work under Strategy 1.

Funding Strategy 2
Support on-the-ground protection, restoration, and stewardship efforts that benefit biodiversity, sustain livelihoods, and help to mitigate climate change. Our geographical areas of focus are currently limited to the Hudson Bay and James Bay Lowlands and the Mackenzie River Basin. Funding proposals for work under Strategy 2 are by invitation-only.

Eligibility

Organizations may apply individually or in collaboration with others. Lead applicants must:

be committed to advancing natural climate solutions at the local, provincial, territorial, and/or national levels in Canada; and
have a current, valid charitable registration from the Canada Revenue Agency.

Deadlines

Deadline for Funding Strategy 1

For 2020, applications to Carbon Landscapes under Funding Strategy 1 will be accepted on or before:

2:00pm ET, January 29, 2020
~~2:00pm ET, October 27, 2020~~
*Due to overwhelming demand in our January round and the high calibre of applications received, we have made the tough decision to cancel the October deadline. New 2021 funding deadlines will be announced in late 2020.

Guidelines

Download Carbon Landscapes Application Guidelines (PDF). Updated April 2, 2020.

FAQs

My organization is not a registered charity but we are incorporated as a not-for-profit. Can we submit an application to the Foundation?

Lead applicants must have a current charitable registration number from the Canada Revenue Agency. Non-charitable partners can be included as part of a collaborative grant application led by a registered charity.

Can a single organization submit more than one application to Carbon Landscapes in a given funding round?

While we recognize that organizations may be involved in many activities and projects, it is not the Foundation’s customary practice to consider more than one application from any one organization in a given funding round. Please limit your request to one project unless otherwise arranged with Foundation staff.

What is the maximum/minimum size of a grant under the Environment Program?

There is no maximum or minimum grant size; we simply ask that applications be submitted with budgets appropriate to the proposed work, organization’s size, and human resources capacity.

Can organizations apply for multi-year funding?

Yes. The Foundation will entertain proposals for multi-year funding based on the nature and scope of project goals.

What additional information will help an application?

To help inform our review and funding decisions, we encourage applicants to provide a short 1-2 page document with a list of links to critical research and relevant reports that directly connect to the proposal under review. We do not welcome the inclusion of full reports, research papers, and other material such as annual reports and newsletters.

Grants Database

Carbon Cache

A series on natural climate solutions produced by The Narwhal

Many Canadians recognize the need to broaden efforts to reduce both GHG emissions and biodiversity loss, and to prioritize actions where these two goals align.

Florence Daviet

Author, “Finding Common Ground: Six Steps for Tackling Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss in Canada”

25% of Earth’s wetlands & boreal forests are in Canada. The boreal region is home to over 600 Indigenous communities. It sustains livelihoods, supports biodiversity, and provides globally significant climate services.

20% of Earth’s freshwater is located in Canada. Freshwater is not only critical to human health and wildlife, it serves a disproportionately large and important role in the global carbon cycle.

Canada has the longest coastline in the world. Coastal ecosystems provide critical habitat for marine life, sustenance for communities, and sequester carbon in seagrass meadows, salt marshes, and kelp forests.

Canada is home to one of the world’s most endangered ecosystems: prairie grasslands. The wise stewardship of grasslands and farmlands can drawdown and store carbon, benefit biodiversity, and sustain livelihoods.