Youth Climate Action Fund

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

Are you 15-24 years old or an organisation working with this age group? Would you like to develop an idea for a climate project?

Applications for Round 2 of the Youth Climate Action Fund (YCAF) will open on the same day.

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 cities. 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+ projects.

YCAF Information Session

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

The slides from the session can be found under Related Content at the bottom of this page.

YCAF Design Jam

The YCAF Design Jam will take place on Friday 21st March at The Social Hub, 15 Candleriggs, Glasgow, G1 1TQ. Please sign-up to attend the event here.

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. At the event, we will work with you to develop your ideas for local climate solutions so you can apply for up to £3,900 grant funding to bring your idea to life!

The event is free and open to young people aged 15-24 and organisations who work with this this age group. We would encourage you to come as a small group with friends, teachers, colleagues and others.

Why come along?

The Design Jam will prepare young people and organisations to develop ideas for the Youth Climate Action Fund, which will open for applications on the same day. Through the YCAF, Glasgow has £70,000 of funding to support young people across the city to design and deliver their own environmental projects. We will be awarding mini-grants to 17+ youth-led projects across the city which have the potential to focus on a variety of climate-related topics.

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, called Planting Seeds.

The aim of the talk series is to make the YCAF's core themes engaging and allow young people to make connections to their own lives and neighbourhoods, sparking inspiration and supporting them to generate impactful projects. More information on the YCAF's core themes can be found under Related Content.

This page will be updated with dates for the sessions and sign-up links shortly.

What are the Key Dates?

We are hosting an in-person Design Jam on Friday 21st March to support young people and organisations who are interested in the fund to develop their ideas for projects.

Applications for round 2 of the Youth Climate Action Fund will open on the same day. Projects will be selected between April and May, and delivered between June and October 2025.

This page will be updated with more information about YCAF timelines shortly.

Who is Eligible for Funding?

Projects must be led by at least 2 team members aged 15-24
Projects must be represented by a youth-led or youth-focused organisation*
Organisations must be based within the Glasgow City Council boundary

*A youth-led organisation is made up of at least three individuals aged 15 to 24 in leadership positions who actively participate in decision making within the organisation. Youth-focused organisations, while generally led by adults, provide core programmes and resources designed to meet the needs of young people. This can include community groups, third-sector organisations, schools, colleges and universities.

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