What is the Youth Climate Action Fund?

Launched in 2024 as part of Bloomberg’s global Youth Climate Action Fund, Glasgow was among 100 cities worldwide selected to receive funding to support youth-led climate projects. The initial phase saw the city receive US$50,000, which funded eight diverse projects across Glasgow in 2024. Building on this success, an additional US$100,000 was awarded to Glasgow (and other cities across the world) to deliver a second phase of the YCAF, where grants of up to £3,900 have been awarded to 21 projects which are being delivered this year.

What will projects focus on?

Projects are being delivered in line with the YCAF core themes, which are based on the themes of Glasgow's Climate Plan:​

• Speaking Up and Taking Action
• Fair and Green for Everyone
• Easy and Sustainable Travel
• Healthy People, Healthy Planet
• Building a Greener Future​

These themes aim to support a broad range of initiatives, from climate education and environmental justice to local food growing and active travel support.

What projects are being funded?

The first phase of YCAF funded projects had meaningful impacts across different neighbourhoods in Glasgow, and included climate education and learning programmes, transforming underused spaces into community gardens, embedding sustainability into school curriculums, creating art murals which illustrate Scotland's changing climate, and hosting upcycling and reuse workshops for young people to develop new skills.

Projects being funded in 2025 cover a range of different activities, from food growing and outdoor learning to green careers field trips, storytelling and live performances to nature-based art therapy initiatives. In addition to their focus on climate change, the projects also have a strong focus on mental health, co-design and creative methods, youth voice and confidence building, skills development and creating future opportunities for young people.

The YCAF is part of a broader ambition to engage and build relationships with young people across Glasgow, while giving them a platform to be involved in local action on climate change. The team are also focusing on supporting young people to gain new skills to better connect the YCAF programme with the Just Transition Skills Action Plan, for example, by introducing a series of Planting Seeds webinars to showcase a range of positive destinations and why a diversity of skills is important for a just transition to net zero.