Carbon Innovation Fund
Supporting organisations in the food and farming industry to tackle climate change
This fund is no longer open to applications and is coming to an end after three years.
About the fund
Our Carbon Innovation Fund is a three-year, £3.5m partnership between Co-op Foundation and Co-op. It’s funded through Co-op donations raised from the sale of compostable carrier bags in the UK and our own Co-op Foundation funds.
Funding awarded through the Carbon Innovation Fund is helping us to deliver our strategic priority of building sustainable communities.
Round One
In June 2022, we delivered £1.4m of funding to 15 organisations with innovative solutions to tackle carbon emissions in food and farming, with a focus on collaboration, supporting people and communities, and reducing inequality in the face of the climate crisis. Learn about our round one partners.
Round Two
The second round of the fund supported seven UK-based organisations with £1.1m of funding in July 2023, to help reduce reliance on soy-based animal or fish feed and/or synthetic fertilisers. We incorporated learning from the first round of the fund, taking a more focused approach on soy-containing farming products to improve farming resilience in the UK. Learn about our round two partners.
Round Three
In round three we awarded £1m to seven initiatives developing innovative ways to grow the food we need without damaging important peat soils across the UK. Peatlands are some of the most carbon-rich ecosystems on earth, storing twice as much carbon as the world’s forests. This funding builds on Co-op’s efforts to protect peatlands in the UK. Learn about our round three partners.
What’s next?
This fund is now coming to a close, and there will be no future rounds of funding.
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