Whanganui District Council launches Community Climate Action Fund

Applications for the Whanganui District Council's Community Climate Action Fund are now open. Photo / Bevan Conley

A new fund has opened for non profit climate action projects.

Whanganui District Council's Community Climate fund will support up to 50 per cent of the costs for successful projects.

The council's climate change adviser, Caroline Arrowsmith, said the purpose of the fund was to provide a boost to help people get climate action projects off the ground.

"We've all seen increasing stories of extreme weather events ... climate change is becoming less abstract and more of a reality as time goes by and people know we need to act," she said.

The fund is for projects in the Whanganui district which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions or grow the community's resilience to the impact of climate change.

The fund has $100,000 to allocate each financial year.

Groups or individuals can apply for one project per year for a project cost of up to $20,000.

The council said projects applying for the fund may have the purpose of increasing the uptake of active transport like walking and cycling, increasing the uptake of renewable energy or sequestering carbon with forest or wetland restoration, among other climate-oriented purposes.

"This new fund will give local people the chance to make their climate action ideas a reality – I'm really excited to see the projects that will emerge in our district as a result of having this fund in place," Arrowsmith said.

Funding for this initiative comes from existing funding allocated to climate action in the council's Long-Term Plan 2021-31.

Applications for the fund close on Friday, November 25.

The council's climate change advisory group - made up of tangata whenua and community representatives, subject matter experts and council staff - decide which projects are funded.