Climate Action Fife

We’re very excited to announce that we’re going to be leading a new Fife-wide partnership to tackle climate change in Fife, thanks to National Lottery funding.

Climate Action Fife is the first project in Scotland to be funded by the National Lottery Community Fund’s new £100 million Climate Action Fund. 14 grants have been awarded across the UK this summer, totaling over £14 million.

We’ve been awarded £197,289 to deliver an 18-month cross-sector climate action project in partnership with Fife Council, Fife College and Fife Communities Climate Action Network. Starting in September, we’ll be piloting a range of activities to build capacity in communities across Fife to take action on climate change, engage people from all backgrounds and sectors, tackle carbon emissions and deliver ambitious longer-term plans.

Project activities will include climate change communications, training and engagement events, and innovative behavior change activities encouraging climate-friendly businesses, climate-friendly homes and gardens, climate-friendly food and climate-friendly holidays. We’ll also carry out studies into the potential for a Fife community renewable energy project, a community tree planting strategy and a community cycling manifesto, as well as testing different approaches to getting more community groups across Fife involved in action on climate change.

Christine May, Chair of the Greener Kirkcaldy board, said:

“We are extremely thankful to the National Lottery Community Fund for this funding to deliver an innovative and ambitious climate action project for Fife. We are thrilled to be the first project in Scotland to be part of this exciting new fund, which will empower people and communities across the UK to take the lead in tackling the climate emergency.”

“This is a key step towards our vision of a Fife where everyone is working together towards a low-carbon future. We’d like to say a big thank you to all National Lottery players for making this happen. We are very excited to be part of this new national movement for change.”

The ideas in this project come from our community. You’ve told us that you want to see ambitious action on climate change and that individuals, communities, government and business should work together to make this happen. In March 2020, we commissioned the Fife People’s Panel, a market research service provided by Fife Council’s research team, to carry out a survey about local attitudes towards climate change. 416 people took part online from all parts of Fife and a wide range of backgrounds. According to the survey, 83% of Fifers believe that climate change is an immediate and urgent problem, whilst 88% feel that individuals, communities, government and businesses will need to work together to tackle climate change.

The Climate Action Fund is the newest fund from the National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK. The new fund aims to enable people and communities to take the lead in tackling the climate emergency by building a network of people and communities, well-placed to drive change, between and beyond their community.

Climate Action Fife will be starting in September – watch this space for more information!