Global Majority
Resilience Fund
Approach

How we fund climate resilience

What we fund

Three climate hazards

We fund practical solutions that help communities prepare for, withstand and recover from three climate hazards that are already reshaping lives across the Global Majority.

  • Sprinklers spray water over a farmhouse as a wildfire burns across dry hills

    Extreme heat

    Rising temperatures threaten health and livelihoods, above all for outdoor workers and people in informal settlements. We fund cooling shelters, heat early warning and urban greening.

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  • Three children carry water pots and containers along a dry dirt track

    Drought and water scarcity

    Longer dry spells undermine food security and water supply. We fund watershed restoration, community water storage and drought insurance for farmers.

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  • Aerial view of a coastal town flooded by a storm surge

    Coastal hazards

    Sea level rise, storms and erosion damage coastal ecosystems and drive displacement. We fund mangrove restoration, storm early warning and new income for fishing communities.

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Across all three hazards, we support four types of solutions:Nature-based solutionsWorking with nature to reduce climate risk. These approaches protect, restore or sustainably manage ecosystems so they shield communities from hazards while also supporting livelihoods and biodiversity.ExamplesRestoring mangroves and coral reefs to buffer storm surges, reviving watersheds and wetlands to store water through dry seasons, agroforestry that shades crops from heat, and trees and green spaces that cool cities.Digital toolsTechnology that helps communities see a hazard coming and act in time. Data, sensors and mobile services turn weather and climate information into timely, local guidance people can use.ExamplesSMS and WhatsApp early warnings for heatwaves and storms, low-cost weather stations and soil-moisture sensors, satellite monitoring of drought or coastal erosion, and apps that give farmers planting and irrigation advice.Community-based approachesSolutions designed, led and run by the people most exposed to climate risk, building on their own knowledge, priorities and networks. The community decides what is needed and stays in charge of it.ExamplesCommunity-run cooling centres and heat-response volunteers, local water committees that manage shared storage, Indigenous and traditional practices for managing land and fisheries, and community evacuation and preparedness plans.Finance and risk transferFinancial tools that help households, businesses and communities absorb climate shocks and recover faster. Risk transfer shifts part of the cost of a disaster to an insurer or a shared fund, so one bad season does not wipe out savings.ExamplesParametric insurance that pays out automatically when rainfall or temperature passes a set threshold, microinsurance for smallholders and fishers, community savings and emergency funds, and early grants that help climate-resilience businesses attract investment.

Grantees may focus on adaptation alone, and are also encouraged to deliver mitigation or biodiversity benefits where doing so strengthens the project.

Our theory of change

Three barriers, three pathways

Grassroots organizations face three barriers to lasting climate resilience. We respond through three pathways.

  1. BarrierAdaptation is hard to measure. Its benefits show up as losses avoided, so most adaptation work still depends on grants.

    Solutions that can be measured, replicated and scaled

    We back approaches that can work elsewhere and document what works, so others can adopt them.

  2. BarrierGrant cycles are short, but adaptation takes years. Funding gaps stall projects and reverse progress.

    Financial independence for grantees

    Flexible core funding, financial skills and peer networks help grantees win larger funding on their own.

  3. BarrierPromising solutions lack early capital. Investors want proof of viability before they commit.

    Catalytic capital

    Early, risk-tolerant grants help promising solutions build the track record investors need.

Long-term impact

Grassroots organizations across the Global South sustain, replicate and scale climate resilience solutions, with diverse sources of funding and less dependence on short grant cycles.

Read our full Theory of Change

How we monitor progress

Reporting should never get in the way of the work

Grantees send a short update every three months and a full report once a year, by WhatsApp, web form or email, in any language. Every report is assessed against the same set of criteria:

  • Co-financing raised

    Capital raised alongside the GMRF grant.

  • Reduced climate risk

    Lowering the hazard, reducing exposure, or strengthening people's ability to cope.

  • Economic impact

    Such as income protected.

  • Non-economic impact

    Such as illness and displacement avoided.

Grantees can write in their own words or use a structured template. Our team reviews every submission, and we use grantee information only with their informed consent.

What we look for

  • Grassroots and locally led

    Organizations rooted in the communities they serve.

  • Global South focus

    Over 80% of grants go to organizations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Vulnerable diaspora and Indigenous communities in the Global North are also eligible. We encourage North–South and South–South partnerships.

  • Transferable

    Approaches that could work in other places or against other hazards.

  • Clear pathway to lasting impact

    A credible plan for what happens after the grant, whether that is further funding, income generation or wider adoption.

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