Alternatives to Environmental Project Financing 

Private environmental conservation initiatives generate undoubted benefits for society, but finding the funds to support them is a common challenge. Even though since the Paris Agreement, the funds available to finance environmental initiatives have been increasing year by year, many financing alternatives are complicated, involve a high degree of bureaucracy, or are just not known to the general public. 

This article seeks to facilitate the process of financing private environmental initiatives in Latin America by providing a list of available alternatives to which project leaders can apply directly:   

• Global Environment Facility Small Grants Program:  

• It is ideal for grants of up to $50,000.  
• Open for applications from any non-profit organization worldwide.  
• Depending on the country, applicants may require making an investment in the same proportion to the amount to be donated.  
• Cannot be used to fund salary payments, land or vehicle purchases. 
• Requirements: The list of requirements for Costa Rica can be consulted on this page. For other countries, you can access the following portal and select the country of interest. 

• United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Grants: 

Any individual or private entity can contact USAID to submit their contract proposal or grant application. USAID funds a wide variety of projects with diverse purposes and budgets, as long as they are aligned with promoting development in countries that require it. For more information, please see the following link or the contract and grant instructions. 

• Tropical Forest Fund: This alternative focuses on financing projects to create new protected areas in tropical and subtropical ecosystems. The application process is quite simple, as can be seen here. 
• International Climate Initiative of the German Government (IKI): Funds a range of projects related to climate change mitigation and adaptation, including biodiversity conservation projects. 

• In the following link, you will find all the funding possibilities currently open, together with an explanation of the requirements for application. 

• French Fund for the Global Environment: Open to any type of legal entity, this fund grants contributions ranging from 500,000 to 3,000,000 euros. 

• General application requirements can be consulted here.  
• Operates under co-financing, which requires that at least 70% of the total project funds be contributed by the applicant or another funding institution.  
• The execution of the financed project may not exceed five years. 

This list focuses on financing alternatives that are constantly open to new applications directly from private entities. However, there are many other occasional alternatives that are accessible through intermediary institutions such as development banks or governments. To get an idea of other available options, you can review the directory of Funding Organizations managed by the Ramsar Convention Organization.  

There is no doubt that environmentally positive projects today have more funding possibilities than ever before; however, funding programs are challenged to disseminate and simplify the application processes to achieve a truly inclusive funding process.