City Bridge Foundation - Climate & Environmental Justice
Background
The Climate and Environmental Justice programme is part of City Bridge Foundation's ten-year funding policy, 'Standing with Londoners'. It recognises that climate change and environmental harm are social justice and human rights issues, shaped by wider inequalities linked to race, income, disability, migration status, age, health, and housing. The communities who have contributed least to climate change are experiencing its most severe impacts.
Objectives of Fund
The programme aims to strengthen community leadership, resources, and the voices of those most affected by supporting community-led work that:
- Builds collective power.
- Improves daily life for those facing climate and environmental harm.
- Lays the foundations for long-term, systemic change.
All funded work must go beyond immediate response and contribute to longer-term systems change through one or more of three approaches:
- Place-based resilience: Community-led action addressing climate and environmental harm in a specific place, location, or community.
- Community organising and influence: Supporting communities to build collective power through social action, campaigning, and influencing decisions.
- Storytelling and narrative change: Work that shifts how climate-related harm is understood, starting from lived experience and influencing wider narratives.
Value Notes
Grants are fixed amounts based on organisational income, awarded over five years as core, flexible funding. A total of £5.6 million is available for this round.
| Grant Amount (over 5 years) | Annual Amount | Your Organisation's Income |
|---|---|---|
| £125,000 | £25,000 | £50,000 - £120,000 |
| £200,000 | £40,000 | £120,000 - £250,000 |
| £300,000 | £60,000 | £250,000 - £750,000 |
| £450,000 | £90,000 | £750,000 - £1,500,000 |
Organisations with income just outside these bands should discuss with the Foundation via a pre-application call. Only one application per organisation is permitted for this round.
Who Can Apply
Your organisation must be community-led and meet both the fund-specific and general City Bridge Foundation eligibility criteria.
Fund-specific criteria — your organisation must:
- Be community-led: led by, accountable to, or deeply embedded within the communities it serves.
- Work with the most affected communities: low-income and marginalised communities affected by climate and environmental harm.
- Have a track record of credible experience in climate and environmental justice work.
- Have a total annual income between £50,000 and £1.5 million (based on latest signed accounts).
General eligibility — your organisation must also:
- Be an eligible organisation type (e.g. registered charity, CIO, CIC, not-for-profit company).
- Deliver charitable work that benefits people living in Greater London.
- Pay at least the London Living Wage to London-based staff (or commit to doing so).
- Provide at least one year's audited or independently examined accounts.
- Have an up-to-date safeguarding policy.
- Have at least three directors or trustees on the board.
Location
Greater London.
Restrictions
This programme may not be a good fit if: your climate work is a small project or add-on; your work is primarily service delivery or technical solutions without community leadership; communities are only consulted rather than involved in decision-making; you do not work with the most affected communities; your work is one-off or short-term; or you do not meet core eligibility requirements (e.g. not based in London).
City Bridge Foundation also excludes: individuals, schools, statutory bodies, political parties, non-charitable activities, retrospective costs, and work that does not benefit people living in Greater London. Full details are on their General eligibility and exclusions page.
Eligible Expenditure
Core, flexible funding can support: core costs (staff salaries, wellbeing, training, overheads, infrastructure), programme activity (including frontline service provision), organisational development, collaboration and movement-building, community organising, advocacy and campaigning, and data and storytelling to capture impact.
How To Apply
Applications are now open and are made via the City Bridge Foundation Application Portal.
Before applying, you must:
- Use the online Eligibility Checker (ten questions). If eligible, the last question provides a link to the portal.
- Read the Funding Guidelines (DOCX).
- Watch the webinar recording (60 minutes).
- If needed, book a pre-application call (available 14 July – 21 August 2026).
Key dates:
- Applications open: 6 July 2026
- Pre-application calls available: 14 July – 21 August 2026
- Applications close: 12 noon on Tuesday 8 September 2026
- Stage 1 decisions communicated: 6 November 2026
- Stage 2 assessment visits: Early November – mid-December 2026
- Final decisions: End of January 2027
A sample application form in Word and step-by-step portal instructions are available for download. For accessibility support, contact funding@citybridgefoundation.org.uk.
