Dutch Fund for Climate and Development

Summary: 

Organizational profile: 

The Dutch Fund for Climate and Development (DFCD) is a climate resilience fund, dedicated to supporting climate adaptation projects which benefit vulnerable communities and landscapes. DFCD is funded by the Dutch government and powered by a consortium of expert organisations: FMO (Dutch entrepreneurial development bank), CFM (Climate Fund Managers), SNV (Netherlands Development Organisation), and WWF Netherlands.

DFCD provides access to finance for promising early-stage initiatives, helping them to develop and grow into scalable projects that are resilient to the effects of climate change.

To maximise potential for invesment, DFCD first seeks to de-risk the projects through the Origination Facility, building their capacity to grow with financial (including debt and equity) and technical assistance. The Origination Facility is responsible for project identification and feasibility activities across a range of sectors; it is co-managed by WWF and SNV. Investment Facilities (Water and Land Use) then target projects which have “graduated” from the Origination Facility. Managed by FMO, the Land Use Facility targets investments which have graduated from the Origination Facility in sectors relating to agroforestry, sustainable land use and climate resilient food production.

The Land Use Facility has at its disposal the full range of financial instruments offered by FMO to provide growth finance to companies, including grants, equity and debt. It also sources opportunities from FMO’s networks and provides post-construction community development and technical assistance financing.

Financing Instrument: Grants, Technical Assistance, Debt, Equity

Project scale:

€30 million is allocated to the Origination Facility which targets approximately 70 projects (offering grants up to €350,000, in addition to Technical Assistance). 

€55 million is allocated to the Land Use Facility to be deployed in approximately 25 companies. The Land Use Facility can offer debt and equity financing solutions between €1 million and €10 million (or more in combination with other FMO funding sources), however, the project sponsor needs to be financially strong.

Recipient countries regions/country groups: Global - Developing Countries and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in particular.

Recipient categories: Governments, NGOs/NPOs, Businesses

Eligibility Criteria: 

To be eligible for funding, projects must:

  • Be from an eligible country
  • Have potential commercial viability
  • Focus on climate adaptation and mitigation
  • Support vulnerable groups 
  • Align with national development goals

The DFCD focuses on a set of high impact investment themes within four key Rio Marker 2 sectors all of which are critical to tackling climate change and achieving the SDGs:

  • Climate resilient water systems and freshwater ecosystems: drinking water & sanitation supplies, restoration & sustainable management of wetlands, headwaters & floodplains;
  • Forestry for the future: promoting afforestation and reforestation;
  • Boost food security with climate smart agriculture: funding more sustainable, efficient and productive approaches from smallholder farmers to agri-business;
  • Protecting the environment, protecting people: restoration of ecosystems, such as wetlands and mangroves, which are nature’s best defenses against extreme floods, droughts and storm surges.
  • The consortium may also look to collaborate with Financial Institutions whose portfolios align with its themes.

Application guidelines: For an initial assessment of whether your project could be eligible for funding, please contact the consortium at info@thedfcd.com.

Last updated: 10 October 2023

Publication Date
Thursday, 01 April 2021
Applicable location
Africa
Americas
Asia
Europe
Oceania
Topic/Theme
Climate change
Sustainable land use
Agroforestry
Forest landscape restoration
Database
Financing opportunities