Open invitation to apply for project funding for Nordic collaborative projects focusing on climate adaptation

The NCAP aims to establish a platform for enhanced Nordic cooperation on climate adaptation. It will facilitate knowledge exchange and help address shared challenges related to climate change and biodiversity loss within a Nordic context. The initiatives are strategic in nature, focusing on policy areas that deliver Nordic added value and tangible benefits for governments, the private sector, and citizens. 

This open call aims to support projects within two different themes, 

A. Projects that contribute to enhance the private sector's ability to consider climate risks in investments and how incentives for the private sector to invest in climate adaptation measures can be increased, or

B. Projects that contribute to our enhanced understanding of climate change impacts on Nordic ecosystems and biodiversity.

Aim of the call – theme A

The call invites proposals to analyze how private investment flows in climate adaptation can be increased in order to reduce climate-related risks in the Nordic region. The theme aims to improve understanding of how accessibility to information on climate risks can be strengthened, as well as to investigate which policy changes to encourage investments in adaptation in the Nordic countries that could be developed. The aim is to generate actionable knowledge on how investment flows can be mobilized, directed, and scaled through stronger incentives, enhanced agency and clearer division of responsibility as well as better informed risk assessment practices.

Proposals are encouraged to include a sector-specific perspective where climate risks and investment needs are significant, such as for example the building and construction sector (other sectors are also relevant). Such analyses should illustrate how climate-resilient investment decisions can reduce risks, generate value, and be scaled in practice.

Projects are expected to address one or more of the following areas: 

• Linking adaptation investments to risk reduction
  How climate adaptation measures contribute to reducing physical and financial risks, and how these benefits can be better quantified, demonstrated, and communicated (e.g. innovative instruments for risk sharing).
• Integration of climate risks in investment decisions
  Barriers and opportunities for incorporating climate-related risks into private investment frameworks and decision-making processes.
• Stronger incentives, enhanced agency and clearer division of responsibility for increased investment
  Policy, regulatory, and market-based mechanisms that can stimulate both public and private investments in climate adaptation measures of a collective character, especially where private returns are lower than socio-economic benefits.
• Financing models and instruments
  Existing and potential financing models (e.g. public-private partnerships, blended finance) that can enable and scale investments in adaptation.

Information and decision-support tools
How access to relevant data, tools, and knowledge on climate risks and adaptation benefits can be improved to support investment decisions.
 

Aim of the call – theme B

The call invites project proposals to analyse existing knowledge, ongoing projects, research and other activities on climate change and its impact on ecosystems and biodiversity across the Nordic region. The aim is to highlight opportunities, limitations, and benefits for mitigation measures relevant to the Nordic region, along with identifying the remaining knowledge gaps that should be prioritized.

Project proposals are encouraged to demonstrate how results can be communicated and efficiently translated into practical use by regional and national authorities. This is essential to contribute to knowledge sharing and development of effective measures to mitigate the climate change impact on biodiversity across the Nordic region.

Projects are expected to address one or more of the following areas:

• Impact on Nordic ecosystems 

Nordic ecosystems that are particularly affected by the impacts of climate change, both long-term changes and climate-related events (e.g. wildfires and droughts). What the impacts are and/or how the ecosystem and biodiversity risks caused by reduced resilience can be linked to societal risks.

• Monitoring

How impacts from climate change on ecosystems and biodiversity are currently monitored in the Nordic region, what kind of methodology and indicators are used and where the main monitoring gaps are. 

• Availability of quantitative data

Availability of quantitative data for the impacts of climate change on biodiversity and ecosystems in the Nordic region and where the main data gaps are.

• Mitigation options and effects

What opportunities, limitations, and benefits for measures, such as management methods, protected areas or other approaches, there are to mitigate risks following climate change impact on Nordic ecosystems and biodiversity and how to foster synergies between them.

• Climate refugia

Climate refugia in the Nordic region and how they can be used to enable persistence of ecosystems, thereby providing for the maintaining climate resilience across the region.

The application must contain the (1) Application form and (2) budget/financial statements. Attach De minimis declaration when relevant. 

Application must be submitted in one e-mail attaching the application form as a word (.docx) or pdf file and the budget/financial statements as an Excel file (.xlsx).

If you have any questions, please contact the NCAP secretariat at ncap@naturvardsverket.se   

We look forward to receiving your application!

The call for applications is open from 8 April 2026 and close on 24 May 2026, 23:59 (CET).

Projects granted funding will be notified in June 2026

All projects must finish no later than 30 November 2027.

All project activities must be finalized no later than 31 October, but preferably before 30 September 2027. 

The suggested size of grants for project proposals in this call is 
450 000 – 800 000 DKK.

The total funding pool is DKK 3.000.000,00. Our aim is to fund 2-3 projects within each theme. 

The project must have participation from representatives from at least three Nordic countries (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Finland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, or Åland). One country may be replaced by the participation of a non-Nordic country

Hanna Matschke Ekholm, NCAP secretariat
email: ncap@naturvardsverket.se