To help Canberrans act on climate, the ACT Government has opened applications for the 2024 Environment Grants and for the newly named 2024 Nature in the City: ‘Cooling your Suburb Grants’. 

“The ACT Environment Grants and Cooling your Suburb Grants are about supporting a community climate movement – helping to cool the city, fight the climate crisis, and preserve our amazing green spaces,” Rebecca Vassarotti, ACT Minister for the Environment, Parks and Land Management, said. 

“Our goal is for the community to be empowered to take direct action, to identify projects in their neighbourhoods, and to make these projects a reality. 

“Canberra is getting hotter and drier. Now more than ever, urban cooling projects are needed to ensure we are putting effort into building our greenspaces, not just preserving them. 

“As our population grows and more people live in the suburbs, we need to support environmental hotspots which cool our suburbs and keep us protected from extreme temperatures.”

The ACT Environmental Grants have been funded annually since 1997. This year’s round has two streams: the Environment Grants and the Environmental Volunteer Group Assistance grants. More than  $350,000 is available between the two streams.  

Last year, 28 community groups received ACT Government grants to implement projects that protect, conserve, and enhance the ACT’s natural environment and biodiversity.

The Nature in the City: Cooling your Suburb grants has $150,000 available for 2024, and a further $150,000 available for 2025. The government increased grant funding from $100,000 to $150,000 for these grants.

Find out more about the Environmental Grants program and how to apply on the ACT Environment website.  

Find out more about the Nature in the City: Cooling Your Suburb grants on the Everyday Climate Choices website.  

Applications close on 9 April.