Community Climate Action Programme Launches In County Mayo
Date: 01-12-2023
Mayo County Council launched the new Community Climate Action Programme on Friday 1st December 2023.
From a total fund of €24 million, Mayo County Council has been allocated a total of €609,000 for community /not-for-profit groups within the county, who are interested in developing projects and initiatives which relate to the challenge of addressing climate change.
In addition, a total of €3 million is available to support cross-border and all-island community climate action partnerships between community organisations in County Mayo and in Northern Ireland under the Shared Island Community Climate Action.
The overall objective of the Community Climate Action Programme is to support and empower communities, to shape and build low carbon, sustainable communities in a coherent way to contribute to national climate and energy targets.
Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Councillor Michael Loftus welcomed the programme, stating that: “Community action is at the heart of how we make Mayo a more sustainable and liveable county. From the Mayo County Council Climate Action Plan engagement, we know that cost is the biggest barrier to Climate Action for community groups.
“This €609,000 fund will help to address that and is an opportunity for communities to implement climate action in their local area to build low carbon, sustainable, thriving communities. I encourage community groups across Mayo to link in with the Lorna Dennehy, Mayo County Councils Community Climate Action Officer and to apply for this fund”.
Community Climate Action Officer, Lorna Dennehy added: “This funding will support community groups to provide leadership within their communities in addressing climate related challenges at a local level. From my work with community groups in Mayo, I know they are ambitious and have great ideas for Climate Action. I’m excited that this fund will help enable the implementation of these ideas and I’m delighted to be on hand to assist communities with the process.”
Projects are eligible for 100% funding, up to a maximum of €100,000. Applications for the Community Climate Action Programme can be made by completing the online application form on https://consult.mayo.ie/.
Applications can be submitted from Friday 1st December and will remain open until Friday, 23rd February 2024 at 4pm. The funding is for capital investment in small, medium, and large-scale community climate action projects under five themes: Community Energy, Travel, Food and Waste, Shopping and recycling and Local Climate and Environmental Action.
An online information session will be held on Thursday 14th December at 7pm. To register for this session or for more information on the Community Climate Action Programme, email the Community Climate Action Officer, Lorna Dennehy, at climateaction@mayococo.ie or visit https://www.mayo.ie/environment/climate-action. Additional in-person information sessions will take place in early January 2024.