Youth Climate Action Fund

Empowering young people to take action and build a greener future for Glasgow

Applications for the Youth Climate Action Fund have now closed and are currently being reviewed.

What is the YCAF?

In 2024, Bloomberg Philanthropies launched a global Youth Climate Action Fund which provided funding to 100 cities worldwide to support young people aged 15-24, and organisations working with this age group, to design and deliver climate-focused projects in their communities. More information here.

As one of the participating cities, Glasgow received grant funding of US$50,000 to support youth-led climate projects through the distribution of local microgrants.

Following a successful first round of the programme which funded 8 diverse projects across the city, Glasgow has been awarded an additional $100,000 from Bloomberg to deliver a second round of the YCAF. During this round of the programme, we will be awarding grants of up to £3,900 to 17 or more new projects.

What type of projects are being funded?

Projects will be delivered in line with the YCAF Themes (PDF, 643 KB)(opens new window), which are based on the themes of Glasgow's Climate Plan:

Speaking Up and Taking Action
Fair and Green for Everyone
Easy and Sustainable Travel
Healthy People, Healthy Planet
Building a Greener Future

These themes support a broad range of initiatives, from climate education and environmental justice to local food growing and active travel support.

The first phase of YCAF funded projects had meaningful impacts across different neighbourhoods in Glasgow, and included climate education and learning programmes, transforming underused spaces into community gardens, embedding sustainability into school curriculums, creating art murals which illustrate Scotland's changing climate, and hosting upcycling and reuse workshops for young people to develop new skills.

What are the key dates?

Applications for round 2 of the Youth Climate Action Fund have now closed and projects are currently being selected to receive funding. Projects will be delivered between July and December 2025.

More details can be found in the YCAF Timeline (PDF, 506 KB)(opens new window).

Planting Seeds Talk Series

As part of the YCAF programme, we are running a series of online sessions with guest speakers focused on different climate-related topics. The aim of Planting Seeds is to showcase some of the work going on in Scotland to create a better future for people and planet and provide context around the YCAF Themes (PDF, 643 KB)(opens new window). The talks are open to anyone who is interested in hearing from experts in a range of different fields.

So far, guest speakers have included:

Izzie Eriksen, Founder and Director of ApparelXchange, who spoke about the importance of connecting with the community around them, the impact their work can have, and key things for young people getting started on their own projects.
John Thorne, Sustainability Co-ordinator at Glasgow School of Art, who spoke about the broad range of sustainability projects happening globally to provide inspiration for young people coming up with their own ideas.
Alyson MacKay, Operations Co-ordinator at 2050 Climate Group, who spoke about the work of the charity and how they are empowering, equipping and enabling Scotland's young climate leaders to take action.
Jen Ballie, Head of Design Research at V&A Dundee, who spoke about the Sewing Box for the Future project she led that looks at the challenges of fast fashion waste and what individuals can do about it.
Rhys Williams, Senior Lecturer at the University of Glasgow, who spokeabout the importance of shared stories in creating a fair and sustainable future, particularly in relation to food, energy, and community.
Hamshya Rajkumar, Seed Librarian at Glasgow Seed Library CCA, who spoke about her work gathering, sharing and growing seeds to nurture rare types and adapt our plants to a changing climate.

YCAF Information Session

An online Information Session was held on Wednesday 26th February for young people and organisations who were interested in finding out more about the opportunity.

Please check the YCAF Information Session Slides (PDF, 20 MB)(opens new window) for an overview of the session.

YCAF Design Jam

The YCAF Design Jam took place on Friday 21st March at The Social Hub Glasgow. This was a free event for young people and youth-focused organisations to develop ideas for local climate solutions, supporting them to apply for the Youth Climate Action Fund to bring their ideas to life.

What is a Jam?
A Jam is a collaborative event geared towards working together, coming up with ideas, and building on the ones that stick. It is a fun and creative environment to come up with something new and test how to make it real. Design Jams use a design thinking approach to encourage collaboration, innovation and a people-centred approach.

More details on the event can be found in the YCAF Design Jam Slides (PDF, 22 MB)(opens new window).