CNCA Game Changer Fund

WHAT

CNCA mobilizes transformative climate action by funding the development, adoption and implementation of game-changing climate policies in cities.

WHY

The window to take action is rapidly narrowing. If we don’t move more quickly, and at scale, we won’t halve emissions by 2030 and completely eliminate them by 2050 or sooner. By focusing on game-changing policies and inviting proposals from cities around the world, CNCA’s Game Changer Fund will help build cities for the 22nd Century – cities that will not only survive climate impacts but thrive far into the future.

HOW

In 2021, CNCA launched the Game Changer Fund to support the development, adoption and implementation of policies that aggressively shift the fundamental attributes of the systems that have caused the climate crisis toward carbon neutrality. To do this, CNCA:

1. Determines the policy actions eligible for funding over the next three years through a member-driven process;
2. Prioritizes projects that address root causes and systems-change approaches;
3. Integrates climate justice and just transition goals into funding criteria;
4. Makes funding decisions in Game Changer Committees composed of leading cities and global thought leaders;
5. Continues to prioritize funding for CNCA members, but will open funding to other cities and Indigenous Peoples governments around the world;
6. Maintains a smaller pot of funding for emerging topics; and
7. Enhances peer learning and lesson-sharing channels for funded projects.

CNCA’s membership has identified five categories of policies on which the Fund will focus in its inaugural three-year period, and the sub-categories to be prioritized in each. CNCA calls these “Game Changers”.

The Fund awarded its first round of funding in May 2021 for the category of Regenerative Systems and Economies, its second round in May 2022 for Decarbonizing Transport, and its third round in January 2024 to Transform Food Systems. RFPs for the other Game Changer categories will be released as funding becomes available.

Click on the links below for more information about the theory of change, funding priorities and targeted outcomes for each Game Changer.