The IKI year 2025 in figures

Each year, the IKI Large Grants address current challenges faced in climate change mitigation, adaptation to climate change and biodiversity conservation. For each of these challenges, the participating ministries identify thematic and country priorities that can then be used as the basis for submitting project outlines. 

The volume of finance that the IKI provides to each project varies between EUR 5 million and EUR 20 million, depending on the individual priority. For the IKI Large Grants Calls, the IKI Office of the federally owned Zukunft – Umwelt – Gesellschaft (ZUG) gGmbH hosts online seminars aimed at increasing the quality of project outlines submitted.

New ideas competition for eleven thematic priorities

At the World Climate Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil in November 2025, the IKI Large Grants Call 2025 was launched with a total funding volume of EUR 220 million. The IKI was searching for ambitious and innovative project ideas for the following eleven country and thematic priorities:

The following country priorities were available for selection:

1. Strengthening electricity storage for renewable energy integration and electrification of end uses in Mexico

2. Building resilience of India’s forests, ecosystems and biodiversity against climate risks through effective and inclusive implementation of adaptation strategies highlighted in the National Adaptation Plan (NAP, currently under preparation)

3. Climate-Smart conservation and restoration of South Africa’s grassland landscapes and associated wetland ecosystems, to support long-term biodiversity protection and green economic development

The following thematic priorities were available for selection:

4. Electricity grids and electricity storage as game changers for the energy transition

5. Urban value chains through bioenergy use: scalable solutions for sustainable methane reduction

6. Decarbonisation of emission-intensive sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa or South and Southeast Asia

7. Strengthening the climate resilience of coastal cities in South and Southeast Asia

8. Promotion of integrated bioeconomy approaches for resilience-enhancing climate protection and biodiversity conservation

9. Mobilisation of financial resources for the implementation of integrated NBSAPs

10. Prevention, early detection and rapid response planning to avoid negative impacts of (invasive) alien species

11 a) Scaling up successful mitigation-relevant IKI approaches in energy, energy efficiency, industry, nationally determined contributions (NDCs)/long term strategies

(LTS), mobility, urban development, or climate finance (with a mitigation focus)

11 b) Scaling up successful adaptation approaches in the area of National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA)

The deadline for submission of the project ideas was mid-February 2026. 

The IKI uses the IKI Medium Grants to support civil society organisations that are based in Germany at the time of the first disbursement made for an approved grant. These organisations work with partner organisations to implement measures for strengthening North-South cooperation on climate change mitigation, adaptation to climate change and biodiversity conservation in emerging and developing countries. The funding volume of the individual funded projects ranges from EUR 300,000 to EUR 800,000.

The IKI Office of ZUG implements the IKI Medium Grants as the delegated project management agency as part of the IKI. Beyond the project funding itself, ZUG offers strongly focused domain-specific and commercial support to IKI Medium Grant projects. Online seminars organised by ZUG give interested implementing organisations a chance to ask questions before participating in the ideas competition and finding out more about the key features of a high-quality project. The impact of this knowledge transfer extends beyond the IKI Medium Grants, even helping organisations outside of IKI calls to implement successful projects.

Sixth ideas competition for the IKI Medium Grants

In November 2025, the sixth ideas competition for the IKI Medium Grants was held, also at COP30, with a total funding volume of up to EUR 8 million. The BMUKN searched worldwide for project ideas focussing on two thematic priorities:

1. Climate action through circular economy – local approaches
2. 'Towards locally-led ecosystem-based adaptation', with the aim of strengthening local capacities for action to adapt to climate change.

The ideas competition was open until 20 January 2026.

By means of the IKI Small Grants, the IKI provides targeted support for local actors, in particular non-governmental organisations in the implementation of effective climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation projects. Funding is possible in countries that qualify to receive public development funds, referred to as Official Development Assistance (ODA) countries. The global projects cover the four IKI funding areas.

The IKI Small Grants use two methods to support local actors worldwide in implementing effective on-site projects. On the one hand, they implement public calls for the submission of project proposals, referred to as ‘International Calls’. Furthermore, the IKI Small Grants support national funding institutions in implementing their own calls for proposals and ideas competitions. The funding volume for organisations as part of the ‘International Calls’ is between EUR 60,000 and EUR 200,000. Funding institutions receive up to EUR 950,000.

The funding programme is implemented and managed from Germany by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. The federal enterprise can access the global GIZ network, including its offices abroad to support local partners.

IKI Small Grants not only provide financial support for the funded organisations to implement their projects, but also strengthen local actors through ‘capacity development’. All funded organisations receive technical and legal/commercial consultation from the IKI Small Grants team in Germany and the local GIZ network. Organisations are connected with one another as well as locally and internationally, and employees participate in training sessions on topics such as project management and fundraising. The actors themselves are responsible for improving internal structures and processes. Investing in capacity building strengthens the institutions in the long term, so that their work has a sustainable impact. They become more visible – also internationally – and play a more active role. 

Seventh ideas competition for IKI Small Grants

The seventh funding call was announced during COP30 in Belém. 

The IKI Small Grants website introduces the programme, presents brief descriptions of the funded projects and shows the successes of the funding. It also serves as a platform for applications for the ideas competitions. Last but not least, the website provides targeted content to support the funded organisations during project implementation.