Energy and Climate: Putting communities first to take climate action

The Climate Action Fund is now open for applications focusing on community-driven energy projects. We want to provide National Lottery funding to both place-based and UK-wide projects that show the active role of communities in addressing climate change while tackling the energy challenges facing people.

Why we are focusing on Energy and Climate

The production and use of energy contributes over two-thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions. The UK is committed to reducing its carbon emissions by 78% by 2035, and to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2050. Energy use in households across the UK, from heating, hot water and using electric appliances, makes up about 20% of the country’s carbon emissions.

If every household took energy efficiency measures, it could achieve 11% of the UK’s 2050 carbon target. In late 2022, the UK government launched its £18 million ‘It All Adds Up’ energy saving campaign to raise public awareness of low or no cost actions people can take to improve energy efficiency in homes.

In recent months, rising energy bills have highlighted the challenges of our dependence on global fossil fuel markets for power and heat. Research shows these rising energy prices are likely to hit lower income households disproportionately, as they spend a higher amount of their income on utility bills and may already be experiencing fuel poverty.

Changing how we use energy will have a big impact on our climate while also delivering significant economic and health and wellbeing benefits for people and communities. Energy efficiency measures that improve the affordability of energy can have a measurable effect on improving mental wellbeing and physical health, such as reduced symptoms of respiratory and cardiovascular conditions, rheumatism, arthritis and allergies.

Community energy projects can have multiple benefits, including developing new skills within communities, supporting the transition to new energy systems, stimulating the local economy, and lowering energy bills as well as reducing carbon emissions. We believe that successful community energy projects can inspire action at scale, develop long-term sustainable behaviours at a local level and crucially ensure these co-benefits produced from community energy projects are distributed and accessed fairly across communities in the UK.

Types of projects we’ll fund

We recognise that some groups experience significant barriers to participating in community energy projects; this is particularly true for lower income households, people with health conditions, rural residents and renters, all contributing to a widening divide between access to, and affordability of, transitioning to new energy systems.

Additional barriers that may impact involvement in energy projects include limited access to trusted information and knowledge, long-standing habits that are difficult to change, and misconceptions around energy efficiency. Through the Climate Action Fund, we would particularly like to support Energy and Climate initiatives that understand and help remove these barriers to participation and involve those who are at greatest risk of being left out of the climate conversation.

This fund is not for small-scale projects with limited potential to scale, and unfortunately, we cannot support projects that are largely looking for capital funding. Instead, we are looking to support ambitious projects with a strong track record and the potential to build momentum and inspire others to take action across the UK. We are particularly interested in projects that can bring different players together to achieve longer-term transformational change.

Read the full criteria for The Climate Action Fund – Energy and Climate and how to apply. Examples of projects that focus on Energy and Climate If you are considering applying to the Climate Action Fund, the following projects - some funded thanks to National Lottery players and others not - offer inspiration for the kind of projects we are looking to fund (although this is not an exhaustive list).

Green Meadows, a National Lottery funded project, is working with local people to build a community, through practical learning, training and advice, to act together on climate change. Their free Future-Fit Homes surveys provide residents with tailored energy saving plans to reduce carbon emissions, lower energy bills and improve the warmth of homes. Green Meadows shows what is possible in energy efficiency when a neighbourhood is empowered to mitigate climate change and build resilience through individual and collective action.

Futureproof, in the Southwest of England, seeks to make low carbon home improvements the natural choice. Led by the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) alongside partners Bristol City Council, the Green Register and Greenhouse PR, the project offers a range of activities including a telephone advice service, training for local firms, and Green Open Homes demonstrations that enable homeowners to learn from and be inspired by real examples of low-carbon home measures. They run in-person and online events, including home retrofit case studies presented by homeowners.

zero carbon house in Birmingham has been designed to remove the use of fossil fuels. No carbon is released into the atmosphere from this unique family home and there are no fuel bills either. It is the UK’s first zero carbon retrofit – the only existing house to have been upgraded to one of the most exacting standards in green design, Level 6 of the original UK Code for Sustainable Homes. zero carbon house’s open days allow people interested in retrofit and reduced carbon living the opportunity to see and touch the house and speak to owners to discover how it works. Projects that deliver additional social and economic benefits:

Healthy Homes which is part of the Edventure project is using National Lottery funding to ensure that people in Frome who are at risk of cold homes get the support they need. Letters and webinars, pop up events delivered in partnership with the Centre for Sustainable Energy signpost residents to trusted advice to help improve their health, save money and reduce their carbon footprint. With 30% of Frome's emissions coming from household energy use, improving energy efficiency is crucial in reducing the local carbon footprint and keeping vulnerable people well through the colder months.

The Cold Homes Energy Efficiency Survey Experts (C.H.E.E.S.E.) Project, a Bristol-based not-for-profit CIC and previously funded National Lottery project, aims to reduce domestic energy losses by using unique thermal imaging equipment to show people where they are losing heat from their homes. These surveys, which are free for households on lower incomes, give residents information on low-cost impactful remedies to save money, improve their comfort and wellbeing, and lower their energy consumption and carbon footprint. Projects that promote behaviour change:

Using National Lottery funding, Climate Action Fife is working across key sectors and stakeholders to build capacity and resilience across Fife. Climate Action Fife are developing new behaviour change campaigns alongside a programme of energy efficiency outreach engagement talks, workshops and events with a focus on long-term behaviour changes. Prioritising groups most in need, Climate Action Fife takes a deeper approach to climate action engagement, involving those currently left out of the climate conversation.

Warmworks Scotland, a joint venture between Changeworks, Energy Saving Trust and Everwarm, delivers Warmer Homes Scotland. Funded by the Scottish Government, the scheme draws on the latest behaviour change theory, including the Scottish Government’s ISM model (Individual, Social and Material), to help vulnerable and lower-income families. The project provides step-by-step advice on energy efficiency, encouraging long term behaviour change and offering start-to-finish support to install improvements such as better insulation and new or repaired heating. Capacity building projects that help communities to develop knowledge and skills:

Community Energy Pathways, delivered by Community Energy South, provides the skills and tools for community energy groups to develop, build local resilience and create jobs across communities. The programme also supports local authorities to identify how community energy can be incorporated into council climate action plans to build systemic change with communities leading from the front.

The Retrofit Engagement Programme, delivered by Zero Carbon Harrogate, aims to reduce the climate impact from domestic energy use by accelerating the delivery of local retrofit services. The National Lottery funded project is working in collaboration with Harrogate Borough Council to run an in-depth survey that will identify residents' knowledge gaps on domestic energy saving measures and retrofitting. In addition, the programme will futureproof the district’s builders and tradespeople by providing retrofit training.

Projects that enable communities to understand and engage with opportunities for clean energy generation, which do not use fossil fuels:

National Lottery funded project Energy Local use smart meter data and partnerships with energy retail companies to create ‘energy clubs’ – groups of local communities who sign up to try to match their demand to times when local renewable generation is highest. The Energy Local model makes power truly local, benefiting the community’s economy whilst decarbonising the power system. This enables people to make the most of local zero-carbon energy, increase revenues for small to medium scale renewables and make savings on energy bills.

The National Lottery Community Fund expects to commit over £75 million to support communities on cost-of-living through the next year. See a list of all our funding programmes currently open and available across the UK.

If the Climate Action Fund is not right for you, you may want to consider other funders. Our Climate Action Hub features other possible funders that you could contact. Please note, The Climate Action Fund is still open to applications focusing on the link between Nature and Climate too. Find out more about the criteria for Nature and climate and Energy and Climate, including details on how to apply.