The RED II climate initiative – funding opportunities for municipalities and the private sector
We'll be talking about the year 2021 even more often in the future.
To prevent misunderstandings: by that we don't mean the events around the corona pandemic, which still keeps us on tenterhooks. No, it's more about a fact most of us aren't even aware of: 2021 was a year of superlatives.
In May, over 30°C were measured in the Russian Arctic Circle. In Canada and North America, previous heat records were broken in June with temperatures of around 50°C. In the Mediterranean region, over 400,000 hectares of forest burned in August. And not least the extreme storms that in July caused a once-in-a-century flood in western and southeastern Germany.
These and similar natural events made three things clear to us in 2021:
- Climate change is lived reality. Each of the weather phenomena just mentioned stands, according to various expert panels, in direct connection with the change of the climate on Earth.
- Climate change is an active threat. With almost every one of these catastrophes, people and animals die, infrastructure is destroyed, ecosystems change lastingly. The current report of the World Climate Council gives little reason for hope with its future forecast. According to Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze, „the planet is in mortal danger”.
- Climate change takes place everywhere. Here in Germany too. Ever harsher drought summers, temperature drops and rises in the double-digit degree range and even tornadoes are long no longer exceptions.
To these three devastating facts, we humans can oppose only a single solution: consistent climate protection.
Consistent climate protection is the only possibility to slow down climate change.
The RED II initiative as a European answer to climate change
One measure with which one wants to positively influence the climate development in the European area is the EU Directive for Renewable Energies („Renewable Energy Directive II“ – RED II, 2018/2001). According to it, EU member states commit, within the framework of the European Climate and Energy Package, to promote alternative energies and reduce greenhouse gases via national law.
Germany goes into implementation here, among other things, with a tightened Climate Protection Act. The lofty goal: climate neutrality by 2045. Already by the year 2030, the annual CO2 emission values are to be drastically lowered. The focus here lies above all on the areas of traffic and transport.
Funding programs within the framework of the RED II initiative
In its national climate strategy, the federal government has launched seven different funding programs. These are aimed at public bodies and municipalities, the private sector as well as third parties and are complemented by various additional and special programs:
- Municipal directive;
- Municipal climate protection model projects;
- Climate protection through cycling;
- E-cargo-bike directive;
- Innovative climate protection projects;
- Micro-depot directive;
- Refrigeration-air-conditioning directive.
Eligible for funding across all seven programs are diverse ideas and projects. Once approved, the financial support from the Federal Environment Ministry can amount to a share of 5% – 100%.
How can municipalities and private organizations apply for the funding?
Ongoing calls for the various funding pots end in the period from October 2021 to June 2024.
If you'd like to apply with your municipal climate measure for one of the programs, you can do this via the federal funding portal, „easy-Online“. As a rule, submitting a project outline as well as filling out the formal funding application suffices to set the review process in motion.
Worth mentioning at this point is that the project sponsorship switches to Zukunft – Umwelt – Gesellschaft (ZUG GmbH) on 31.12.2021. The federally owned company of the Federal Environment Ministry thus replaces Projektträger Jülich as the current authority in the future.
Possible project ideas for municipalities and private organizations could be, among others:
- Climate protection concepts;
- Research projects;
- Pilot trials;
- Forming municipal networks.
The funding of focus consulting and municipal network projects is especially recommendable here for getting started. They form the basis for implementing climate protection measures and thereby favor subsequent funding possibilities.
The right advice and orientation on possible funding programs
Admittedly, what sounds quite simple here in the summary can turn out considerably more complex in practice for municipalities and private organizations. That's why you shouldn't disregard the option of getting helpful support at your side.
We at grandega can support you with our integrative consulting approach and our years of experience in the public sector across a broad palette of services. These include, for example:
- The forming and coordinating of inter-municipal networks to pool resources and competencies;
- Focus consulting in the form of analyses and climate protection concepts to determine your status quo and reveal potentials;
- Support with workshops for creating and implementing project ideas as well as taking over the project lead;
- Help with funding applications, project documentation and final reports.
Depending on the type and shaping of the project, incurred consulting costs are partly borne by the funding programs.
Act now to lay the cornerstone for a climate-neutral future in your city.
In a free initial consultation, I'm happy to advise you about the possibilities of funding in your city.
Contact me for that, please.
