Does your organization have tested ecosystem-based adaptation work that could be scaled, institutionalized or made investment-ready? The Global EbA Fund’s eighth small-size call is open for catalytic projects that remove systemic barriers to ecosystem-based adaptation, with priority for ODA-eligible Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries.
Funding: Up to US$250,000 per grant. Deadline: 26 October 2026. Duration: Up to 24 months.
What this call is funding
The Global EbA Fund is looking for projects that help ecosystem-based adaptation move beyond isolated implementation. Proposals should strengthen the enabling environment for uptake and scaling through institutional and technical capacity, practical evidence, knowledge networks, policy integration and investment readiness.
A strong proposal must show a clear adaptation chain: the climate hazard, the people and ecosystems exposed, the socioeconomic and ecological sensitivities, the adaptive capacity to be strengthened and the resulting reduction in climate risk. The proposal must deliver benefits for both people and nature.
Priority themes
- Investment readiness: building scalable, bankable concepts and project pipelines for larger climate-finance sources.
- Innovative technologies: adapting or scaling tested technologies across socio-ecological systems to inform practitioners and decision-makers.
- Applied and functional research: solving practical barriers to EbA implementation, policy or investment.
- Synergies: connecting with existing EbA, nature-based solutions and climate-finance initiatives to expand impact or co-funding pathways.
Who can apply
Eligible applicants include NGOs and INGOs, community-based organizations, Indigenous Peoples’ organizations, intergovernmental organizations, universities, academic institutions, research institutes, think tanks, private-sector companies and consortia.
- The lead and partners must be legally recognized entities with relevant experience and presence.
- Projects may be global or thematic, or operate only in ODA-eligible countries.
- Priority goes to ODA-eligible SIDS and LDCs; other ODA-eligible countries need exceptional ambition and a distinctive scaling opportunity.
- For country-level activities, a consortium with at least one local organization is required, and at least 25% of the budget must be allocated to local partners.
- Government bodies may participate but cannot receive Fund resources. IUCN and UNEP offices may also participate only without receiving grant funds.
- Individuals and standalone study applications are not eligible.
Non-negotiable project conditions
- The project must qualify as ecosystem-based adaptation under the Fund’s quality standards.
- It must be catalytic and innovative, address a gap in existing work, and be based on prior work rather than operate as a standalone field project.
- It must target no more than one Global EbA Fund strategic objective and no more than two action pillars.
- The budget must not exceed US$250,000 and implementation must not exceed 24 months.
- The application must explain sustainability, local ownership, institutional continuity, gender responsiveness, Indigenous Peoples’ rights, safeguards, equitable benefit-sharing and how maladaptation will be prevented.
- Local institutions and communities must play meaningful roles; partner selection should show shared decision-making and capacity transfer.
What is unlikely to fit
The Fund is not designed for a seed-grant programme, individual study, a purely local implementation project with no scaling pathway, or a new standalone intervention disconnected from existing work. Projects composed exclusively of field implementation are weak fits. Government entities cannot receive subgrants, and commercial or compensatory obligations are not eligible uses for private-sector applicants.
Required application package
- Applicant Declaration.
- Co-applicant Mandate.
- Small-Size Grants Application Form.
- Theory of Change, Logframe and Project Activities Form.
- Project Proposal Budget Template.
- Due Diligence and Financial Capacity Questionnaire.
The official page advises applicants to complete the downloadable form offline, then transfer the application to the IUCN Grants Management portal. All required documents must be submitted; applications must be in English, and official registration documents must be translated into English where necessary.
Official donor sources: Global EbA Fund small-size grants page and application package · official call document.
How proposals will be assessed
The Fund places heavy weight on the quality of the EbA approach, including whether the proposal clearly connects ecosystem action to reduced climate vulnerability. Reviewers also examine design and methodology, catalytic value, scalability, sustainability, local partnerships, safeguards, institutional capacity and financial readiness.
How Africads would strengthen the application
- Begin with one documented climate-risk and adaptation impact chain; do not start with a list of activities.
- Show what has already been tested, what barrier prevents wider uptake and why this grant is the right catalytic intervention.
- Quantify the local-partner share and define capacity transfer, decision rights and knowledge ownership.
- Connect every major activity to a scaling mechanism: policy uptake, replication, financing, institutionalization or a larger investment pipeline.
- Complete due diligence early. Weak financial capacity or missing registration evidence can defeat an otherwise strong technical idea.
Before you draft: prove that the adaptation idea is fundable
Use the Program Fundability Checker to test whether the problem, evidence, intervention logic, delivery capacity and sustainability case are strong enough for a catalytic EbA proposal.
Need an independent fit and readiness review?
If your organization has an existing EbA programme and is deciding whether its scaling concept meets this call, request an Africads opportunity review before committing the full application team.
Turn verified evidence into a structured draft
Use GrantsWriterAI to organize the concept, objectives, theory of change, workplan and evidence. Keep the official application form, logframe and budget templates as the controlling requirements.
Want more verified opportunities and application guidance? Subscribe to Africads Grant News.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a general conservation or field-implementation grant?
No. The Fund is seeking catalytic ecosystem-based adaptation work that removes barriers to scaling, policy uptake, institutional capacity, practical evidence or investment readiness. A standalone local field project with no scaling pathway is a weak fit.
How much funding and time are available?
Each small-size grant may request up to US$250,000 for a project lasting no more than 24 months.
When is a local partner required?
For country-level activities, the proposal must include at least one local organization and allocate at least 25% of the budget to local partners. The partnership should also show meaningful decision-making and capacity transfer.
Which applicants are excluded?
Individuals and standalone study applications are ineligible. Government bodies, IUCN offices and UNEP offices may participate but cannot receive Fund resources, and private-sector costs must not satisfy commercial or compensatory obligations.
What should applicants prove most clearly?
The proposal should show a coherent climate-risk and adaptation impact chain, prior work that justifies the intervention, the barrier to wider uptake and a realistic mechanism for scaling, institutionalization or investment.
Conclusion
The strongest applicants will bring a tested ecosystem-based adaptation foundation and use this grant to unlock scale, policy uptake, evidence or investment. The main risks are weak adaptation logic, a project dominated by field delivery, insufficient local ownership and incomplete due diligence. Confirm the 25% local-partner allocation where applicable, complete every official template and submit through the Fund’s portal by 26 October 2026.
Last verified: 2 October 2026 against the Global EbA Fund’s official call page and eighth small-size call document. Re-check the application portal before submitting.
