Rewiring Australia is working with the Australian National University (ANU) on policy design and modelling of Income Contingent Loans (ICLs) to address financing barriers to electrification for low-income households, and those who don’t meet the commercial banks' lending criteria.

The project aims to provide clarity how a government supported/funded finance program could be implemented to realize widespread uptake of electrification and the subsequent emissions reductions.

Further reading

Rewiring Australia: Loans for electrification – Find out why this organisation was selected for a 2023 Visionary Grant

ACOSS are conducting a heat survey and providing training support for people on low incomes to take part in an advocacy campaign to retrofit 1.8 million low-income houses.

The heat survey aims to identify low-income housing in Australia that will not be able to participate in electrification or the renewable transition without support. ACOSS will use this information and the narratives of the support people trained to run an advocacy campaign through TV, radio and online news outlets influencing decision makers to enable these households to be part of the renewable transition.

Tomorrow movement is running a fellowship program to train 15-20 young people from across Australia to run strong climate campaigns in their local communities. These young people will put pressure on politicians and build a mandate for increasing government ambition and investment towards climate solutions.

They aim to train these young people to be campaign ready for the next federal election in support of a climate jobs guarantee, and promote more ambitious Australian investment in climate solutions like the US has done with its Inflation Reduction Act (and push for an Australian Inflation Reduction Act).

The Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) is an accredited Community Legal Centre specialising in public interest environmental law.

EDO delivers legal solutions for people, nature and climate, driven by a vision of a world where nature thrives. EDO creates systemic legal change by scrutinising activities and actions that jeopardise nature and a safe climate.

Despite Australia's Paris commitment to limit global warming to 1.5°C, we remain the largest exporter of coal and Liquefied natural gas (LNG) globally, and the third-largest fossil fuel exporter in the world. EDO’s Fossil Fuel Tracker monitors fossil fuel projects in the Australian regulatory pipeline, providing frontline communities with the legal resources they need to strengthen community campaigns and take effective climate action, ultimately curbing sources of climate pollution to protect the places they love.

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Further reading

EDO: harnessing the power of communities to protect nature – Find out why this organisation was selected for a 2023 Visionary Grant

Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council are expanding their Riparian Regeneration project, the ‘Martuwarra River Keepers’ (‘MRK’), located in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. This will include conducting environmental assessments on three trial sites, as well as fencing off the trial sites from neighbouring pastoral stations.

The project will support the Martuwarra River Keepers to manage the river in line with a combination of First Nations ways of knowing, and western science. Supporting the cultural value of their Country helps protect it from expansive agricultural and mining practices by showcasing its value and unique importance.

The Great Southern Reef Foundation aims to elevate the Great Southern Reef as a focal point of Australian marine conservation and education.

Through an interactive digital platform and community engagement, they will disseminate curriculum-aligned educational materials, fostering Ocean Literacy. By partnering with scientists and First Nations communities, they will ensure accuracy and inclusivity.

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Further reading

Great Southern Reef Foundation – what lies beneath – Find out why this organisation was selected for a 2023 Visionary Grant

Gudanji women will work with Western trained researchers to establish a documented network of holistic knowledge, combining Gudanji and Western thinking. The knowledge exposed through field work and narrative enquiry will offer new information and understanding of the ways that Gudanji manages Country through long held cultural practices.

This Research Project aims to preserve knowledge that is being lost through destruction of Country due to climate change and extractive industries (like gas exploration). The work will document current flora, fauna and sacred sites at risk and utilise this cultural knowledge to protect Country from further fossil fuel expansion, as well as establish a site for future research and collaboration.

Go to website 

Further reading

Gudanji For Country: wisdom for a better planet - Find out why this organisation was selected for a 2023 Visionary Grant

The project will scale Love Mercy’s program - Cents for Seeds - while piloting water and agroforestry interventions. 900 women and their families vulnerable to food and water insecurity, reduced agricultural incomes and poor soil quality due to climate change induced drought from Alebtong and Otuke Districts will be targeted.

Participants will gain access to seed loans, climate resilient agriculture training, agriculture tools to support crop growth and harvesting methods, as well as ongoing water solutions aimed at building their resilience to withstand the impacts of drought.

Pollinate Group is seeking to scale its micro-entrepreneurship model to empower women in marginalised communities in India and Nepal to distribute clean energy products.

The project will support the development of a Partnership Incentive Fund (PIF) which will allow them to scale their model through a network of aligned NGO partners. 300 women micro-entrepreneurs will be recruited through five partner organizations and 1000 solar lights will be distributed reducing over 5,000 tonnes of CO2e per year.

Further reading

Pollinate Group – growing sunflowers to fight poverty – Find out why this organisation was selected for a 2023 Visionary Grant

This project will support ActionAid’s Women I TokTok Tugeta (WITTT) network in Vanuatu, specifically the Women’s Economic Hubs. These hubs support smallholder women farmers develop businesses, build resilience to climate change and climate-related disasters.

Smallholder women farmers from the Economic Hub of Malo, including women with disabilities, will be supported to develop and strengthen their farming businesses and resilience to climate change. Their collective vegetable farming will use agroecology techniques, meaning they don’t use inorganic fertilisers or pesticides and enhance soil carbon.