The total budget available for this call is EUR 14,706,000. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.

Size of grants

Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:

• • • • • • • • • Minimum amount: EUR 250.000
                • Maximum amount: EUR 750.000

Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum percentages of total eligible costs of the action:

• • • • • • • • • Minimum percentage: 50 % of the total eligible costs of the action
                • Maximum percentage: 90 % of the total eligible costs of the action

There are three sets of eligibility criteria, relating to the actors, the actions, and the costs.

Eligibility of the applicants

Lead Applicant

To qualify for a grant, the lead applicant must:

• • • • • • • • Be a legal person, and
              • Be non-profit-making, and
              • Be established in a Member State of the EU or Türkiye, or in an eligible country as defined by the IPA Regulation, and

International organizations are not eligible for this call.

• • • • • • • • Be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the project (not acting as an intermediary), and
              • Be one of the following:
                • • • • • • A municipality, or
                          • A union of municipalities, or
                          • A local authority (e.g., regional or provincial directorate, special provincial administration), or
                          • A university or research institute/center, or
                          • A development agency

The lead applicant must act with at least one co-applicant.

If the lead applicant is not established in Türkiye, it must act with at least one co-applicant that is established in Türkiye.

Co-Applicant

Co-applicants must:

• • • • • • • • Meet the same eligibility criteria as the lead applicant.

In addition, below listed entities are also eligible as co-applicant(s):

• • • • • • • • Be an NGO (e.g., association, foundation), or
              • Be a non-profit union or cooperative, trade and/or industry chambers, organized industrial zones.

Co-applicants will share responsibility for the project’s implementation and be subject to the same rules as the lead applicant.

Affiliated Entities

The lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) may act with affiliated entity(ies). Only the following entities may be considered as affiliated entities to the lead applicant and/or to co-applicant(s):

Only entities having a structural link with the applicants (i.e. the lead applicant or a co-applicant), in particular a legal or capital link.

The structural link shall, as a general rule, be neither limited to the action nor established for the sole purpose of its implementation. This means that the link would exist independently of the award of the grant; it should exist before the call for proposals and remain valid after the end of the action.

Affiliated entity(ies) must satisfy the same eligibility criteria as the lead applicant and/or the co-applicant(s).

Duration

Projects must have a planned duration of 12 to 24 months.

Sectors or Themes

Sectors or themes can be related to both mitigation and adaptation as follows:

Adaptation sectors: Urban (planning, infrastructure), climate related disaster risk management, transport, water resources management, agriculture and fisheries/livestock, and food security, ecosystem services, biodiversity and forestry, tourism, cultural heritage, energy, industry and other relevant sectors

Mitigation sectors: Energy, industry, agriculture, transport, waste, buildings, Land Use Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) and other relevant sectors.

Themes: Climate change adaptation and/or mitigation

Location

Actions must take place in Türkiye, except for specific activities related to study tours, participation in events and attendance of civil society organisations’ representatives to platforms, meetings and conferences, etc. as long as they clearly contribute to the achievement of the project’s overall objectives. Activities related to exchange of knowledge and experience from other countries can be supported only if part of a broader action. However, such activities cannot constitute the major part of the Action.

Types of Action

The actions must focus on at least one of the priorities stated in section 1.2 of Grant Guideline for Applicants and must include a component (set of activities) on strengthening the communication between stakeholders and “extending the knowledge base within the society”.

Gender Mainstreaming – All actions are expected to ensure gender mainstreaming through analysing, identifying and addressing gender-differentiated needs and agencies of women and men, girls and boys, and particular added-value elements and cross-cutting issues (such as innovation, best practices, sustainable results) in the activities. All actions must ensure wide dissemination of the results of the actions. These points will be subject to evaluation in the relevant sections of the evaluation grid.

Types of Activities

All activities must respect local applicable law and legislations.

UNFCCC describes “Adaptation” as the adjustments in ecological, social or economic systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli and their effects. It refers to changes in processes, practices and structures to moderate potential damages or to benefit from opportunities associated with climate change. Adaptation actions can take on many forms, depending on the unique context of a community, business, organization, country or region. There is no ‘one-size-fits-all-solution’—adaptation can range from building flood defences, setting up early warning systems for cyclones, switching to drought-resistant crops, to redesigning communication systems, business operations and government policies.

More on adaptation: https://unfccc.int/topics/adaptation-and-resilience/the-big-picture/introduction

UNFCCC refers to the efforts to reduce emissions and enhance sinks as “mitigation”. For European Environment Agency, mitigating climate change means reducing the flow of heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This involves cutting greenhouse gases from main sources such as power plants, factories, cars, and farms. Forests, oceans, and soil also absorb and store these gases, and are an important part of the solution.

More on mitigation: https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/topics/in-depth/climate-change-mitigation-reducing-emissions & https://unfccc.int/topics/introduction-to-mitigation

Eligibility of Costs: Costs that can be Included

Only ‘eligible costs’ can be covered by a grant. The categories of costs that are eligible and non-eligible are indicated in the Grant Guideline for Applicants.

The applicants must take all necessary steps to publicise the fact that the European Union has co-financed the action. Unless the European Commission agrees otherwise, actions that are wholly or partially funded by the European Union must ensure the visibility of EU financing by displaying the EU emblem in accordance with the guidelines set out in the Operational guidelines for recipients of EU funding, published by the European Commission. If applicable, communication activities may be undertaken to raise the awareness of specific or general audiences of the reasons for the action and the EU support for the action in the country or region concerned, as well as the results and the impact of this support.

All measures and activities relating to visibility and, if applicable, communication, must comply with the latest Communication and Visibility Requirements for EU-funded external action, laid down and published by the European Commission (Communication and Visibility Requirements for EU External Actions | International Partnerships – europa.eu).

Concept Note Content

Applications must be submitted in accordance with the concept note instructions in the grant application form annexed to the guidelines (Annex A).

There is no specific template for the concept note but the lead applicant must ensure that the text:

• • • • • • • • includes Page 1 of this document, filled in and submitted as a cover page of the concept note;
              • includes the table of the summary of the action (without any limitation of size);
              • includes the description of the action (not exceeding 2 pages) and the relevance of the action (not exceeding 3 pages), the format for both documents being A4 size with 2 cm margins, Arial 10 font characters and single line spacing;
              • provides the information requested under the headings specified in Annex A, in the order requested, and in proportion to its relative importance (see the relevant scores in the evaluation grid in the guidelines for applicants);
              • provides full information (as the evaluation will be based solely on the information provided);
              • is drafted as clearly as possible to facilitate the evaluation process.

Key Points to Remember for the Concept Note:

• • • • • • • • Applicants must apply in English.
              • Length and Format: Follow the instructions provided in Annex A of the guidelines.

How to Submit Your Concept Note?

• • • • • • • • The concept note and declaration by the lead applicant (to be found in Part A Section 3 of the grant application form) must be submitted in one original and two copies in A4 size, each bound. Hand-written concept notes will not be accepted. An electronic version of the concept note must also be submitted. An USB stick with the concept note in electronic format will be included, along with the paper version, in a sealed envelope as described below. The electronic file must contain exactly the same application as the paper version enclosed.
              • The envelope must bear the reference number and title of the call for proposals together with the full name and address of the lead applicant, and the words ‘Not to be opened before the opening session’ and ‘Açılış oturumundan önce açmayınız’.
              • Concept Notes must be submitted by registered mail, private courier service, or hand-delivered to (a signed and dated certificate of receipt will be given to the deliverer) to the address below:

                • • • • • • Postal address

                            T.C. Çevre, Şehircilik ve İklim Değişikliği Bakanlığı, AB ve Dış İlişkiler Genel Müdürlüğü, AB Yatırımları Dairesi Başkanlığı

                            Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, General Directorate of European Union and Foreign Relations, Department of EU Investments

                            Mustafa Kemal Mahallesi 2082. Cadde No:52 Çankaya/Ankara

                            Title: EU-Türkiye Climate Change Grant Programme (EU-TR CCGP)

                            Reference: EuropeAid/182996/ID/ACT/TR

                          • Address for hand delivery

                            T.C. Çevre, Şehircilik ve İklim Değişikliği Bakanlığı, AB ve Dış İlişkiler Genel Müdürlüğü, AB Yatırımları Dairesi Başkanlığı

                            Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, General Directorate of European Union and Foreign Relations, Department of EU Investments

                            Mustafa Kemal Mahallesi 2082. Cadde No:52 Çankaya/Ankara

Concept notes sent by any other means (e.g. by fax or by e-mail) or delivered to other addresses will be rejected.

So as to facilitate the processing of applications, please present the original dossier and 2 copies in A4 size, each bound in following order:

• • • • • • • • Concept note – Part A of the grant application form,
              • Checklist – Section 2 of Part A of the grant application form,
              • Declaration by the lead applicant – Section 3 of Part A of the grant application form,
              • Electronic format (Word and Pdf format in USB stick) of the concept note (Part A Sections 1, 2 and 3).

Deadline for Submissions

The deadline for the submission of concept notes is 16.12.2024 as evidenced by the date of dispatch, the postmark or the date of the deposit slip. In the case of hand-deliveries, the deadline for receipt is at 16.12.2024 before 15:30 (Ankara local time) as evidenced by the signed and dated receipt. Any concept note submitted after the deadline will be rejected.

How and When to Contact?

(An) information meeting(s) on this call for proposals will be held. For the exact date(s) and location(s) of the information meeting(s), please follow the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, General Directorate of European Union and Foreign Relations, Department of European Union Investments (https://ipa.csb.gov.tr) website.

Questions may be sent by e-mail no later than 21 days before the deadline for the submission of concept notes to the address(es) below, indicating clearly the reference of the call for proposals:

E-mail address: trccgp@csb.gov.tr

The contracting authority has no obligation to provide clarifications to questions received after this date. Replies will be given no later than 11 days before the deadline for submission of concept notes.

Timetable for the steps above may be updated by the contracting authority during the procedure. In such cases, the updated timetable will be published on the web site where the call was published:

Website of DG International Partnerships https://ec.europa.eu/international-partnerships/home_fr or Funding & Tender opportunities (F&T Portal) https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/home and https://ipa.csb.gov.tr