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31 March 2016

Information on support for projects under the International Climate

Initiative of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature

Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety

1 Introduction

Speed and concerted action are needed to keep climate change within

tolerable limits and halt the ongoing loss of biological diversity. The major

global tasks of this century – tackling poverty, hunger, disease and inequality –

can only be accomplished if global warming is kept to well below two degrees,

and if possible to 1.5°C, by comparison with the pre-industrial era and if

ecosystems retain their functionality and performance. In the 21st century,

climate protection and biodiversity conservation have a key part to play in

social justice and world peace.

In 2008, the German government launched the International Climate Initiative

(Internationale Klimaschutzinitiative, IKI). This funding programme of the

German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building

and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) supports the implementation in partner countries of

specific measures in the context of the United Nations Framework Convention

on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity

(CBD). The International Climate Initiative contributes decisively to ensuring that

Germany meets its international commitments with regard to climate and

biodiversity financing now and in the future.

The International Climate Initiative supports climate and biodiversity projects in

developing countries, emerging economies and transition states (‘partner

countries’) in a manner consistent with the Federal Government’s existing

international, multilateral and bilateral cooperation. It aims to fund high-quality projects

that are sufficiently innovative or have sufficiently ambitious climate protection and

biodiversity conservation goals to promote transformative change.

The projects are geared to the needs of the partner countries and support them in

climate protection, especially in reducing greenhouse gases, building capacity to

adapt to the impacts of climate change and conserving and making sustainable use of

forests and other ecosystems (carbon sinks). The International Climate Initiative

thereby also promotes the implementation of the decisions of the Conference of the

Parties to the UNFCCC (www.unfccc.int).

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The UN Climate Conference in December 2015 adopted the Paris Agreement,

which provides a multilateral framework for low-carbon transformation of the world

economy. Mitigation and adaptation are to be pursued as equally important goals;

for the first time ever, a global long-term target for adaptation has been set.

Almost all countries have defined national climate change mitigation targets and

pledged to take measures to achieve them. Every five years the parties to the

UNFCCC must submit new, more ambitious targets; transparency and monitoring

mechanisms will ensure that these result in a steady increase in the global level

of ambition. This provides the framework for achieving an emissions pathway that

keeps global warming to less than 2°C and even limits it to less than 1.5°C – and

global financial flows must be based on a pathway that is consistent with this. At

the same time the Paris Agreement assures countries whose capacity levels are

low of support in the form of funding, capacity development and technology

development and transfer to help them reduce emissions and adapt to climate

change. In the wake of the UN Climate Conference in Paris, the focus in the IKI

is therefore on implementation – in the short term through climate protection

measures that will take effect before 2020, in the medium term largely through

effective preparation for implementation of nationally determined contributions

(NDCs) by individual countries, and in the long term through strategies for low-

carbon, climate-resilient development.

Another priority of the IKI is to provide partner countries with effective and

appropriate support to enable them to achieve the Aichi Targets of the

Strategic Plan 2011-2020 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

(https://www.cbd.int/sp/) in order to counter the ongoing loss of biodiversity.

Projects are to tie into the biodiversity strategies of partner countries in the

most effective manner and will complement other ongoing national and

international activities. Global Biodiversity Outlook 4, the fourth global report of

the CBD on the state of biological diversity, identifies much progress but also

makes clear that more decisive action needs to be taken to tackle the causes of

biodiversity loss. The focus is on primary sectors such as agriculture, fisheries

and forestry. One of the key issues at the 13th Conference of the Parties to the

CBD, to be held in Mexico in December 2016, will be the mainstreaming of

biodiversity goals in all policy areas.

Climate protection and biodiversity conservation are key objectives of support

from the IKI. It is the goal of the IKI to generate maximum synergy between

climate protection and biodiversity conservation.

‘Transforming our World’, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

adopted at the UN summit in September 2015, and the sustainable

development goals that it sets out provide a framework for effective and

coherent collaboration and are an important basis of the IKI’s work.

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The Agenda can contribute to efficient and sustainable achievement of climate

and biodiversity targets by highlighting interactions and synergies between

different dimensions of sustainability and establishing an international reporting

framework. Implementation of the 2030 Agenda serves to bring about the

urgently needed shift – required in both industrialised and developing countries

– to sustainable lifestyles and economic practices that respect the ecological

carrying capacity of our planet.

This document describes the procedure and criteria for the selection of projects

that can receive funding from 2017.

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2 Object of support

The International Climate Initiative supports ambitious climate change mitigation

and biodiversity projects in partner countries. Support areas I ‘Mitigation’,

II ‘Adaptation’ and III ‘Conservation, restoration and sustainable use of natural carbon

sinks’ are geared to fostering transformation processes that move economies onto a

low-carbon path and make countries resilient to climate change. Implementation of

the decisions resulting from the UN climate process – achievement of climate

protection measures that will take effect before 2020 and expansion of structural

elements of the global climate protection architecture – are a core aspect of this. In

support areas I-III the current selection process focuses on supporting projects in the

context of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). In support area IV

‘Biodiversity’, a key criterion for funding eligibility is the implementation of selected

goals of the Strategic Plan 2011-2020 of the CBD. Synergies between the fields

of climate protection and biodiversity conservation should be maximised.

To enable the IKI to support reform processes on a sustainable basis, the focus is

always on existing regional priorities (see the interactive world map on the IKI

website). The aim is to consolidate and sustain this focus. When assessing

submissions, particular attention will be given to projects that have the maximum

potential to exert transformative effects and raise the level of ambition in partner

countries. For further information please see the selection criteria for the target region

in Section 7.3.

Projects should be geared to partner countries’ needs so that they provide optimum

support for the particular country’s climate protection and biodiversity conservation

activities. IKI projects form part of Germany’s bilateral cooperation with the partner

countries and are based on the principle of country ownership. They work with state

institutions in the partner country and support sustainable local capacity

development. An important role in this is played by networks and transformation

partnerships that bring together government institutions, towns and cities, think

tanks, civil society and the private sector.

The primary level of intervention is the national level. Subnational schemes will

also be funded if they are embedded consistently in national strategies and

policies and serve to implement them; this applies particularly in connection with

the cross-cutting theme ‘Sustainable urban development, sustainable building’

(see Section 2.6.2. below).

In addition to bilateral projects, the IKI also supports multi-country projects at

regional and global level and triangular cooperation projects. This enables

knowledge and experience to be exchanged internationally as effective

approaches of climate and biodiversity protection are developed. This exchange

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of expertise is supplemented by knowledge management and issue-based

cooperation between IKI projects and projects of other donors and institutions.

Project selection is guided by the criteria set out in Section 7.3. Section 2.1 provides

further information on eligible projects and support approaches. IKI projects must be

relevant to one or more of the thematic priorities in support areas I-IV or the cross-

cutting themes of ‘Financing instruments’ or ‘Sustainable urban development,

sustainable building’ set out in Sections 2.2 to 2.6.

2.1 Eligible measures and support approaches:

The IKI is able to support measures in the areas of policy advice, capacity

development, technology cooperation and investment as well as concrete

implementation of policies, strategies and concepts. In particular, the following

approaches are eligible for support:

Support for the conceptual design and implementation of policy

programmes and mechanisms;

Policy advice on regulatory frameworks, the removal of barriers to strategy

implementation and the development of country-specific solutions;

Capacity development in public institutions, development of analysis and

advisory capacity, capacity-building among private-sector stakeholders

(industry, crafts, banks, investors, technology networks);

Developing specific consultancy approaches and financing and business

models (see also 2.6.1 Financing instruments);

Supporting project development for major funding programmes and

investors (pipeline development);

Actions in support of building consensus at national level (e.g. multi-

stakeholder workshops);

Supporting networks and transformation partnerships that bring together

government institutions, towns and cities, think tanks, civil society and the

private sector;

Regional/international exchange of knowledge and experience;

Financial cooperation (especially financing of investment, financial

contributions to financial sector development, fiduciary holdings);

Advice on, demonstration of and dissemination of technical innovations,

exchange of information on climate protection technologies including the

communication of best practices.

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2.2 Support area I: Mitigation

In this area the objective is to support partner countries in preparing and

conducting actions that make a significant contribution to the prevention of

greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This year’s selection process focuses on

projects that serve to implement nationally determined contributions (NDCs),

especially by supporting

the provision of analytical foundations relevant to partner countries;

the specifying of NDCs and the development of strategies and measures

(national, regional, sector-based) to achieve them;

the development, consolidation and harmonisation of measurement,

reporting and verification (MRV) systems;

capacity building;

the continuation and intensification of consultation processes (state

institutions, civil society and the private sector, science);

the development of investment plans, financing plans, CO2 pricing

schemes and strategies for the removal of climate-damaging subsidies;

mobilisation of the private sector and

investment in / financing of sectoral NDC components in accordance with

national priorities.

Assistance is also provided to partner countries to enable them to

implement additional emissions reductions that will take effect before

2020, in particular through sectoral climate change mitigation measures

backed up by an implementation and financing plan (especially Nationally

Appropriate Mitigation Actions, NAMAs).

develop cross-sectoral, long-term mitigation strategies (Low-Carbon

Development Strategies, LCDSs). LCDSs create a structured guiding

framework for climate policy, from which aggregated mitigation

contributions result and sectoral actions can be derived. LCDSs are an

important element in achievement of the global reduction target enshrined

in the Paris Agreement of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions to zero

in the coming decades.

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continue capacity development in connection with measurement,

reporting and verification (MRV): national and cross-sectoral MRV

systems, standards and methodologies for measurement of goal

attainment, tracking of reduction performance, preparation of national

registers and accounting systems.

Through this the IKI makes a contribution to important climate protection alliances

such as the International Partnership on Mitigation and MRV

(http://www.mitigationpartnership.net/).

Keeping global warming to well below 2°C means decarbonising the world

economy and is thus a guard rail for the shift to an inclusive green economy. IKI

funding is therefore targeted at supporting low-emission development pathways

in partner countries. To enable the IKI to bring about transformative results with its

limited funds, this year’s selection process focuses on sectors that are particularly

relevant to low-carbon development. In particular, through sector-based measures

the IKI can make a contribution to the development and upscaling of technology. In

making selection decisions, particular attention will be paid to the potential for

sectoral measures to link in to overarching climate change mitigation policies (NDCs,

LCDS).

Renewable energies/energy efficiency

Funding is available primarily for actions at strategic level (such as

defining expansion goals and implementation and financing strategies,

improving regulatory frameworks, (further) development of funding

mechanisms, removal of misdirected incentives and barriers to

investment). Actions are aimed at improving energy efficiency on the

demand side (in particular buildings, industry, water supply and

wastewater treatment) and expanding sustainable energy production

(renewables, primarily wind, solar, biomass from organic secondary

resources, along with the integration of these energy sources into the

energy system and the development of appropriate storage solutions;

combined heat and power (CHP) and combined heat, power and cooling

(CHPC)).

Mobility/transport

The transport sector accounts for more than a quarter of global energy-

related CO2 emissions and it is, moreover, the fastest growing sector. In

keeping with the approach of ‘Avoid/Shift/Improve/Fuel-Switch’, the IKI

supports the development of mobility strategies and concepts to reduce

emissions and the implementation of these strategies/concepts in partner

countries. Key approaches here include preventing traffic and shifting the

modal split, improving the efficiency of the modes and means of

transport, and decarbonising the energy sources used in the transport

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sector. Projects supported in these fields should, wherever possible,

deliver health and environmental co-benefits in terms of air pollution

control, noise control and the conservation of other resources.

Resource efficiency, sustainable consumption and production

Measures designed to reduce the demand for and use of resources and

raw materials have great potential for reducing CO2 emissions. Projects

eligible for IKI support are therefore those that, with a focus on climate

change mitigation, promote the transition to an energy- and resource-

efficient, closed-loop economy (including through the use of integrated

avoidance concepts and state-of-the-art technologies in the industrial value

chain). Also eligible are projects involving low-carbon design of products

and services and ‘green’ consumption patterns. The establishment of low-

carbon waste management structures is eligible for support in order to tap

the mitigation potential in the waste management sector. Projects that

mitigate the adverse environmental effects of GHG emissions resulting

from resource extraction can also be supported.

2.3 Support area II: Adaptation to climate change

With the Paris Agreement the international community has for the first time set a

long-term goal for adaptation to climate change and accorded it the same weight

as the indispensable mitigation activities. By specifying that global warming

should be kept well below the internationally agreed upper limit of 2°C, possibly

below 1.5°C, the Agreement provides guidance on the design of adaptation

measures. Adaptation to climate change already poses a challenge for

developing countries, and it is to be expected that climate risks will continue to

mount. Effective adaptation measures can play an important part in enabling

affected communities to protect themselves against the adverse impacts of

climate change and thus reduce the influence of these impacts as a cause of

flight and migration. In the area of adaptation, the International Climate Initiative

aims to boost adaptive capacity in regions which are highly vulnerable to the

impacts of climate change. Particular attention is paid in the selection process to

whether proposals support the implementation of nationally determined

contributions (NDCs).

The IKI supports:

The development and implementation of regional and national

adaptation strategies, notably NAPs (National Adaptation Plans).

Particular attention is paid in the selection process to the linking of

adaptation strategies to implementation and financing plans and climate

risk management mechanisms.

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Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) in water and land-use

management (including coastal and marine areas). Projects implementing

EbA measures regularly show that such measures are more cost-efficient

and sustainable than ‘grey’ measures. A particular focus can also be

placed on the interplay among sectors (especially water, energy and

food), on maintenance of the functions of the ecosystems linked directly

to the hydrological regime (water catchment management), and on

strengthening resilience to climate-related extreme events.

Within these thematic areas, the following elements should be - in particular in

the light of the requirements of Article 7 of the Paris Agreement - included where

possible:

Implementation of measures and integration of these measures into cross-

sectoral initiatives to foster the exchange of experience and to link up

measures;

Monitoring and evaluating adaptation measures in order to generate

support tools for decision-makers;

Closing important knowledge gaps;

Developing climate information systems (possibly differentiated according

to type of settlement structure – urban/rural), especially in order to utilise

adaptation-related knowledge in science and policy-making.

2.4 Support area III: Conservation, restoration and sustainable use of natural

carbon sinks

Conserving and restoring forests and enhancing their CO2 storage capacity makes

an important contribution to climate change mitigation. The IKI supports partner

countries’ efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and

to bind CO2 by restoring forests and managing them sustainably. In the support area

‘Conservation, restoration and sustainable use of natural carbon sinks’, it is

particularly important to ensure that synergies between climate policy and

biodiversity policy are fully exploited and that successful approaches are rolled out.

The emphasis is on practical, large-scale approaches to the reduction of emissions

from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), and the restoration of forests. It

is essential that projects in this support area have broad societal support at all

levels, involve local communities and indigenous peoples and ensure that

emissions reductions are permanent and additional. Particular attention is paid in

the selection process to whether proposals support the implementation of

nationally determined contributions (NDCs).

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The main priorities of the current round of selection in support area III are:

Restoration: The ecological restoration of degraded land and forests

using native species contributes significantly to carbon sequestration and

the conservation of biodiversity.

Sustainable business models: Development and implementation of

environmentally friendly, economically attractive and socially acceptable

business and funding models (especially in collaboration with private

businesses) for the restoration of forests and forest-like structures at

landscape level and promotion of deforestation-free products and

sustainable value and supply chains.

Results-based financing: Support for projects that involve results-based

payments and for measures to implement and support the framework

needed for such a system. This includes in particular helping national and

sub-national stakeholders obtain effective and efficient access to ex-ante

financing of programmes for verifiable reduction of factors driving

deforestation and their emissions.

Improving robust data systems: Development, implementation and

consolidation of MRV systems, reference scenarios and Safeguard

Information Systems (SIS) that are organised at national level or

integrated into national policy. These systems need to be implementation-

oriented; as far as possible they should also cover

restoration/rehabilitation and be compatible with results-based financing of

REDD+ systems.

2.5 Support area IV: Biodiversity

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) provides the global framework for

the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. With the Strategic Plan

2011-2020 and its 20 Aichi Targets, the parties to the convention have adopted

a highly ambitious roadmap towards halting the loss of biological diversity

(ecosystems, species and genetic diversity) worldwide. The IKI intends to assist

implementation of the Strategic Plan in the partner countries in a tangible and

effective manner. Support measures should be derived as far as possible from

the National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) and resource

mobilisation strategies, and should promote their implementation; they should also

complement existing programmes/projects and other implementation activities at

national, regional and international level. In this regard, strategic partners

operating in other sectors (agriculture, forestry, financial services, business and

industry, etc.) should be involved from the planning stage onwards. Biodiversity

projects supported by the IKI should have positive co-benefits for climate change

mitigation.

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The main priorities of the 2016 round of selection are:

Raising awareness of and sensitising people to the importance of

biological diversity and the services it provides (cf. Aichi Target 1);

Integrating biodiversity into sector policies and political planning

processes (cf. Aichi Target 2), including projects aiming to address the

underlying causes of biodiversity loss;

Eliminating or reforming incentives that are harmful to biodiversity and

creating positive economic incentives for the conservation of biodiversity

(cf. Aichi Target 3);

Promoting biodiversity on agricultural land and the use of agricultural

production methods that foster greater biodiversity (cf. Aichi Target 7);

Protected areas (terrestrial and marine): integral implementation of the CBD

Programme of Work on Protected Areas (cf. Aichi Target 11); here, particular

attention is paid to protecting the interests of local and indigenous communities

and supporting the process of identifying and maintaining Ecologically and

Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs), including the high seas;

Promoting integrated approaches to the restoration, connection and

safeguarding of ecosystems in the landscape (not only in protected areas),

including in urban areas, where these ecosystems make a significant

contribution to human health, livelihoods and wellbeing, and

Projects that support capacity building in the context of the

Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem

Services (IPBES).

2.6 Cross-cutting themes:

2.6.1 Financing instruments for climate protection and biodiversity

Public-sector climate and biodiversity finance is an important component of the

financing of mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity actions. One of the targets

of the Paris Agreement is the harmonisation of global financial flows with a

pathway that results in low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient,

sustainable development; keeping global warming to well below 2°C or

below 1.5°C is the guard rail here. This needs to be achieved in relation both

to public financing and to private investment and financial flows (‘shifting the

trillions’). As a catalytic climate financing tool, the IKI contributes to

implementation of this task of the international community. IKI funds need to

be used in a way that mobilises private and public investment with

transformative results.

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The IKI therefore promotes the following across all support areas:

Mechanisms to mobilise investment: Mechanisms and sustainable

business models that mobilise additional investment in climate change

mitigation and biodiversity conservation, either with or without the direct

involvement of the financial market (e.g. climate funds, sector-specific capital

funds, PPP models, citizen ownership schemes). Mechanisms should build

upon a clear analysis of the barriers to additional investment in climate

protection and biodiversity conservation in the target country, in order to

exclude free rider effects and create sustained incentives for private and

possibly public investment.

Needs-driven capacity building of financial institutions in partner

countries for the development and implementation of sustainable financial

products that are designed to promote investment in climate protection or

biodiversity conservation. To the extent required by the financial market

situation in target countries, technical consultancy can be combined with

refinancing mechanisms or with mechanisms providing financial security

for investments in actions/technologies.

Directing financial flows into sustainable channels: Through subsidies and

public support programmes, for example in the energy, building, transport and

agricultural sectors, national policies frequently create misdirected incentives

that are harmful to the climate and biodiversity. The IKI supports approaches

that divert private and public financial flows (e.g. climate-friendly fiscal policy,

reduction of subsidies, creation of CO2 pricing tools and other policy

incentives, public procurement policies, transparent pricing of climate risks,

climate-friendly investment criteria).

2.6.2 Sustainable urban development, sustainable building

The urbanisation process is of major importance for the global environment,

climate protection and sustainable development: cities are the sources of a large

proportion of greenhouse gas emissions, but, at the same time, they are also

particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Functioning urban

ecosystems are essential to the wellbeing of urban populations and to the

development of society. At building, neighbourhood and city level there is

enormous potential for emissions reduction, resource conservation, improving

the state of the environment and for green economy practices.

Against this backdrop, the IKI supports sustainable urban development and

sustainable building across a range of sectors. This support primarily comprises

the following measures (including in the context of Smart City approaches):

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Sustainable urban development and sustainable building initiatives focusing

on low-emission development and/or adaptation (particularly the

development and implementation of cross-sectoral climate protection

strategies and adaptation strategies). These include in particular area- or

neighbourhood-based concepts that package and integrate individual

measures (e.g. climate-friendly urban development concepts, large-scale

energy-efficiency improvement schemes).

Multi-stakeholder dialogues conducted with the aim of developing

integrated strategies and concepts for low-carbon and sustainable

urbanisation. The ultimate objective here is to ensure stakeholder

involvement in urban development that is carried out in a way which uses

energy, space and resources sparingly.

Design and planning of risk reduction measures and development of

(urban) resilience (including resilience to floods, heatwaves, droughts and

storms), taking into account the spatial aspects of the city/environs

situation. These measures also include local adaptation strategies,

especially strategies to enhance resilience to climate-induced extreme

weather events (e.g. integrated strategies for the protection of critical urban

infrastructure).

The IKI intervenes primarily at the national level; subnational and transnational

approaches must be coherently integrated into national strategies and policies

or contribute to the parallel (further) development of national strategies and

policies on sustainable urban development. Particular attention is paid in the

selection process to relevance to the implementation of NDCs and the

corresponding priority-setting by the partner countries.

3 Project organisation and project partners

The International Climate Initiative is open to a broad range of participants from

Germany and abroad. It supports projects carried out in partner countries by

German federal implementing agencies, NGOs, business enterprises, universities

and research institutes based in Germany and abroad, by institutions in partner

countries (including accredited national implementing entities/NIEs) and by

international and multinational organisations and institutions, e.g. development

banks and United Nations bodies and programmes.

Projects conducted by organisations/institutions based in Germany and abroad

are supported via grants. Projects conducted by German federal implementing

agencies are commissioned pursuant to the terms and conditions applicable to

these agencies. With regard to funding for institutions based abroad, sections 3 to

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7 of this document apply correspondingly.

Projects can also be implemented jointly by more than one

organisation/institution. In the case of joint projects, cooperation must be

regulated in a cooperation agreement with all implementing actors, and a project

leader should be appointed. The cooperation agreement must be submitted in the

second step of the application procedure (see Section 7.2) and contain the legally

binding signatures of all implementing actors.

The IKI has very positive experience of projects that – without being organised as joint

projects – cooperate closely with other IKI projects within a topic-based cluster.

BMUB regards opportunities for bringing project concepts together to form clusters as

desirable in appropriate areas; clusters may combine global, regional or innovative

country-specific approaches and mutually complementing implementing

organisations.

Where there is particular reason to do so, projects can be developed via preparatory

measures (studies, appraisal missions). In the conceptual design of projects it is also

possible to provide for pilot phases or ‘experimental zones’ for particularly innovative

projects or projects entailing implementation risks.

In the context of advice on concrete policies and measures, evidence-based support

for pilot measures (for example through randomised controlled trials) can be funded if

the partner government is interested in this.

The grant recipient is expected to have project-related expertise and experience

of the target region. Grant recipients must demonstrate relevant expertise and, as

a rule, prove that for at least three years they have continuously implemented

international cooperation projects jointly with partners in the region, or that they

have been successfully involved in project-related activities for at least three

years. Implementing actors must be able to undertake qualified planning and

cost-effective implementation of projects, and to monitor projects and render

account for them, if necessary in collaboration with the partners or subcontractors

directly involved in the implementation. They must also comply with relevant

environmental and social safeguards.

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Specific monitoring of the projects is expected. Project planning and monitoring of

the projects should be based on the results framework developed by the

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (see

instructions IKI project outline template version 8.0). According to this framework,

the activities organised by a project cause changes that the IKI terms ‘outputs’

(specific project objectives). The outputs are necessary for achievement of the

outcome (the overarching project objective). At a third level (impact or long-term

results), projects contribute to climate protection through emissions reductions,

adaptation to the consequences of climate change or to the conservation of biological

diversity.

The grant recipient must be capable of providing suitable human resources for the

technical and administrative implementation of the project. The level of the

planned, average annual BMUB funding volume should not exceed the average

annual turnover of the grant recipient’s last three commercial years. The average

annual funding volume follows from the planned total BMUB funding volume and

the planned project duration as stated in the project outline.

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4 Prerequisites for support

Support depends on the project’s design being suited to making a substantial

contribution to achieving the International Climate Initiative’s goals and priorities

as defined in Section 2.

Projects applying for support must be based on the strategies and policies of the

respective partner countries and take account of existing programmes and

structures. Project proposals should be oriented to the needs of target countries,

based upon a gap analysis, in order to advance the countries’ specific climate

protection efforts in the best possible way.

The governments of the partner countries must express an explicit interest

in the project. This is a prerequisite to project implementation and must be verified

in the second stage of the selection procedure. In the first stage of the selection

procedure (project outline), an initial appraisal of the political support for the

project idea should be made by the submitter; a possible contact/reference

person in the government of the partner country (political partner institution) is to

be named.

On principle, projects must be implemented in cooperation with national, local

or regional partners in order that the project is anchored in the target region.

Envisaged partners are already to be named in the first stage of the selection

procedure (project outline). Projects that involve a wide range of implementation

partners in the target region (such as state institutions, cities, universities and think

tanks, civil society) will be ranked particularly highly in the selection process.

In addition, projects will be considered for funding only if they have clearly defined

goals which can be achieved and verified within the project duration (using the

OECD results framework, see Section 3 above). The projects must not have been

already started and the duration should not be more than six years.

Support by the International Climate Initiative is provided only if implementation of

the proposed project is impossible without public funding.

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In order to fully exploit synergies and prevent duplication of funding, relations to

other instruments or areas of support, to ongoing or earlier funding measures of

the Federal German Government, the German federal states (Länder) or the

European Union or to any international measures (bilateral/multilateral) must be

disclosed and their relevance for the proposed project explained. The closer the

proposed project is in its goals, target groups, activities and concrete outcomes to

a concluded/ongoing project, the more precisely the demarcation from or linkage

with such a project needs to be presented. Project outlines must indicate intended

or previously approved support from third parties for the proposed project,

specifying the support donor(s) and the specific amount(s) of funding. Proof of

intended or approved support must be provided in the second stage of the

selection procedure at the latest (see Section 7.2).

In order to ensure the additionality of greenhouse gas reduction and of the

German contribution to international climate finance, no emissions certificates or

other emissions credits generated by IKI projects may be traded either during or

after the project term. For this reason, funding resulting from the sale of such

emissions permits or credits may not be accounted for in the overall financing of

IKI-supported projects. However, this does not apply to emissions credits within

the non-compliance market, insofar as they comply with the relevant IKI

guidelines and are demonstrably being used to ensure the sustainable funding of

climate protection projects in the fields of agriculture, forestry or land use. The

relevant guidelines will be provided after conclusion of the first stage of the

selection procedure.

5 Type, extent and amount of the grants

Support can be granted for all costs or expenditures which are necessary in line

with the principles of sound financial management to achieve the project goal,

insofar as it is not possible to achieve this goal without this support.

It is generally a condition for approval of a grant that the applicant makes an

appropriate contribution and that additional funding is mobilised to meet the

eligible expenditure or costs.

The efficiency of the expenditures and costs and the economical use of the funds

must be demonstrated.

The support granted must promote sustainable development in the partner

countries. It is not intended to give the grant recipient an economic advantage.

The funded projects must meet the criteria for recognition as Official Development

Assistance (ODA).

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Measures that avoid travel (e.g. video or telephone conferences) or make it climate-

neutral are encouraged. Expenditure and costs in connection with the offsetting of

greenhouse gas emissions associated with project-related travel are eligible for

funding.

6 Other terms/grant conditions

Implementation of IKI support measures is governed by Sections 48 to 49a of

the German Administrative Procedures Act (VwVfG) and the following collateral

clauses:

for expenditure-based grants, the general collateral clauses for grants to

support projects (Allgemeine Nebenbestimmungen für Zuwendungen zur

Projektförderung)

(ANBest-P)

for cost-based grants, the general collateral clauses for cost-based grants

to support projects (Allgemeine Nebenbestimmungen für Zuwendungen

zur Projektförderung auf Kostenbasis)

(ANBest-P-Kosten)

In the case of contracts with foreign grant recipients, collateral clauses

corresponding to the ANBest-P or the ANBest-P-Kosten will become part of the

contract.

There is no right to be awarded a grant. The decision to approve support is

taken by the BMUB after due assessment of the circumstances and in the light of

the budgetary funds available.

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7 Decision-making procedure

7.1 Involvement of a Programme Office

The BMUB has commissioned the Programme Office of the International Climate

Initiative (‘Programme Office’) to manage the funding programme:

Programmbüro Internationale Klimaschutzinitiative

Potsdamer Platz 10

D-10785 Berlin

Germany

E-mail: programmbuero@programmbuero-klima.de

7.2. Selection procedure

Selection is based on a two-stage procedure.

In the first stage, informative project outlines in English must be prepared on

the basis of the IKI project outline template version 8.0 and submitted to the

Programme Office electronically (contact address under 7.1). The outlines must

not exceed six pages (plus the annexes provided in the template, if necessary).

The following deadline applies:

For the 2017 selection procedure (planned project start in 2017 at the earliest),

project outlines must be submitted to the Programme Office by 6 June 2016,

24:00 (Central European Summer Time, CEST).

Project outlines which are received after the deadline (6 June 2016, 24:00

CEST), do not satisfy the format requirements, are incomplete or were not

submitted by the designated means will not be considered for the

subsequent selection procedure.

All project outlines that have been submitted in full by the deadline will be

collected by the Programme Office and evaluated by the BMUB. The BMUB pre-

selects promising project outlines in line with the available budgetary resources,

considering coherence with foreign and development policy. All applicants will be

informed in writing of the result of the evaluation.

If the project outlines are promising, the organisations/institutions concerned will

be requested in writing to submit a formal application for support (second

stage).The BMUB will then decide on this application in a final review. The

relevant terms and application templates to be taken into consideration –

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including the requirements concerning monitoring and safeguards – will be

provided after conclusion of the first stage.

7.3 Selection criteria

The submitted project outlines will be evaluated and selected by the BMUB

according to the following conditions and criteria:

Aptitude of submitter:

The preconditions stated in Section 3 for suitability as a project organisation

and project partner (notably: competence, capacity, experience, networking,

orderly business management of submitter and of the submitter’s partners).

Target region:

Role of the partner country in the context of the international

negotiations on climate protection – or, in the case of area IV, on

biodiversity – and the country’s interest in cooperating with Germany on

climate change or biodiversity.

ODA eligibility of the supported measure.

Key countries and regions are

in area I (mitigation) countries with high potential for greenhouse

gas reduction, especially newly industrialising countries, middle-

income countries (http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-

classifications) and transition countries; policy advice projects are

preferred in the particularly advanced newly industrialising countries;

in area II (adaptation) vulnerable countries and regions;

in area III (carbon sinks) countries and regions that are particularly

relevant with a view to carbon storage and biodiversity;

in area IV (biodiversity) countries and regions with a particularly

high/rich biodiversity and/or visible commitment to the CBD

objectives;

with due regard to the intended consolidation of the existing IKI

portfolio in both thematic and regional terms. Information on previous

bilateral cooperation with individual countries in the context of the

International Climate Initiative can be found on the portfolio page of

the IKI website.

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Suitability of project:

General alignment with one or more of the thematic priorities and

support approaches of the International Climate Initiative (see

sections 2.1 to 2.6.2); in addition to projects that are directly geared

towards the priorities set out for the specific support areas, funding can

also be provided to projects that combine the priorities of the individual

support areas in an innovative way.

Transformative impact, level of ambition, innovation potential

(technological, economic, methodological, institutional)

Contribution to international climate cooperation, in particular in the

context of the UN climate negotiations through support for implementation

of the resolutions of the Conferences of the Parties to the UNFCCC

(www.unfccc.int), the climate-related negotiations conducted within the

framework of the Montreal Protocol and/or contribution to international

cooperation in the context of the CBD processes through support for

implementation of the CBD Strategic Plan 2011-2020

Relevance to implementation of the UN sustainability goals (SDGs)

Contribution to bilateral cooperation on climate and environment

Coherence with and integration into national and/or regional/transnational

strategies, international cooperation and synergies with other projects

and sectors

Interest of the partner government (ownership – see Section 4)

Contribution to the creation of enabling political conditions in the partner

country

Cooperation with national, local or regional partners in order that the project

is anchored in the target region.

Contribution to economic and social development in the partner country

Solidity of the concept, quality of presentation and of the anticipated

project management and monitoring

Sustainability of project outcomes and replicability of the concept and/or

results; the measures that promote sustainability (e.g. decreasing volume

of funds over the course of the project) should be specified

Amount of self-financing and third-party financing

Appropriateness, effectiveness and efficiency of the use of funds