Through the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), the federal government is spearheading an unprecedented effort to accelerate investment in climate infrastructure, adaptation and mitigation. Today’s decisions on how to deploy the GGRF to drive major new investments in climate mitigation and resilience are urgently needed. The GGRF is divided into three key programs: the $14 billion National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF); the $6 billion Clean Communities Investment Accelerator (CCIA); and Solar for All, with $7 billion distributed to up to 60 states and territories.
Analysis for New England shows that a holistic approach to forest-based climate mitigation—protecting forests, practicing climate-smart forestry, and strategically utilizing renewable wood products in place of fossil fuel-intensive materials—can deliver carbon savings equal to 30 percent of the emissions reductions needed to reach net zero by 2050, or 646 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent. The New England Forestry Foundation (NEFF) is advancing this opportunity at scale through its ground-breaking $30 million Climate-Smart Commodities Partnership project with commercial landowners to develop an immediate project pipeline of potent forest-based carbon drawdown investments.
“NEFF and New England are ready to go,” said Robert Perschel, NEFF Executive Director. “Through our $30 million USDA Climate-Smart Commodities program, we have the science, partners and program in place and ready to launch at scale. New England’s forest-carbon drawdown numbers are nationally significant and the cost to achieve these climate gains is very reasonable.” He adds that, “Here in New England and other forested regions of the country, GGRF investments in climate-smart forestry can deliver nationally significant climate benefits while supporting biodiversity, expanding forest products markets, and benefiting economically distressed rural communities.”
As Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack stated in June, U.S. forests are “climate change mitigation powerhouses,” also noting that, “America’s forests already capture more than 10 percent of our nation’s carbon emissions each year, and they have the potential to do more.”
The world is set to reach 1.5ºC of global warming by 2040, precipitating an economic, social, and environmental crisis. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has also made it clear that cutting emissions is no longer sufficient—we also need to remove large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to meet climate targets.
NEFF looks forward to working with the GGRF awardees to finance forest-based carbon drawdown at scale.
Selected Applicant Information
The eight selected applicants across the National Clean Investment Fund and Clean Communities Investment Accelerator will create a national clean financing network that will finance climate and clean energy projects, especially in low-income and disadvantaged communities.
National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF) Selectees
Under the $14 billion National Clean Investment Fund, the three selected applicants will establish national clean financing institutions that deliver accessible, affordable financing for clean technology projects nationwide, partnering with private-sector investors, developers, community organizations, and others to deploy projects, mobilize private capital at scale, and enable millions of Americans to benefit from the program through energy bill savings, cleaner air, job creation, and more. Additional details on each of the three selected applicants, including the narrative proposals that were submitted to EPA as part of the application process, can be found on EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund NCIF website.
All three selected applicants surpassed the program requirement of dedicating a minimum of 40% of capital to low-income and disadvantaged communities. The three selected applicants are:
- Climate United Fund ($6.97 billion award), a nonprofit formed by Calvert Impact to partner with two U.S. Treasury-certified Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), Self-Help Ventures Fund and Community Preservation Corporation. Together, these three nonprofit financial institutions bring a decades-long track record of successfully raising and deploying $30 billion in capital with a focus on low-income and disadvantaged communities. Climate United Fund’s program will focus on investing in harder-to-reach market segments like consumers, small businesses, small farms, community facilities, and schools—with at least 60% of its investments in low-income and disadvantaged communities, 20% in rural communities, and 10% in Tribal communities.
- Coalition for Green Capital ($5 billion award), a nonprofit with almost 15 years of experience helping establish and work with dozens of state, local, and nonprofit green banks that have already catalyzed $20 billion into qualified projects—and that have a pipeline of $30 billion of demand for green bank capital that could be coupled with more than twice that in private investment. The Coalition for Green Capital’s program will have particular emphasis on public-private investing and will leverage the existing and growing national network of green banks as a key distribution channel for investment—with at least 50% of investments in low-income and disadvantaged communities.
- Power Forward Communities ($2 billion award), a nonprofit coalition formed by five of the country’s most trusted housing, climate, and community investment groups that is dedicated to decarbonizing and transforming American housing to save homeowners and renters money, reinvest in communities, and tackle the climate crisis. The coalition members—Enterprise Community Partners, LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation), Rewiring America, Habitat for Humanity, and United Way—will draw on their decades of experience, which includes deploying over $100 billion in community-based initiatives and investments, to build and lead a national financing program providing customized and affordable solutions for single-family and multi-family housing owners and developers—with at least 75% of investments in low-income and disadvantaged communities.
Clean Communities Investment Accelerator (CCIA) Selectees
Under the $6 billion Clean Communities Investment Accelerator, the five selected applicants will establish hubs that provide funding and technical assistance to community lenders working in low-income and disadvantaged communities, providing an immediate pathway to deploy projects in those communities while also building capacity of hundreds of community lenders to finance projects for years. Each of the selectees will provide capitalization funding (typically up to $10 million per community lender), technical assistance subawards (typically up to $1 million per community lender), and technical assistance services so that community lenders can provide financial assistance to deploy distributed energy, net-zero buildings, and zero-emissions transportation projects where they are needed most. 100% of capital under the CCIA is dedicated to low-income and disadvantaged communities. Additional details on each of the five selected applicants, including the narrative proposals that were submitted to EPA as part of the application process, can be found on EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund CCIA website.
The five selected applicants are:
- Opportunity Finance Network ($2.29 billion award), a ~40-year-old nonprofit CDFI Intermediary that provides capital and capacity building for a national network of 400+ community lenders—predominantly U.S. Treasury-certified CDFI Loan Funds—which collectively hold $42 billion in assets and serve all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and several U.S. territories.
- Inclusiv ($1.87 billion award), a ~50-year-old nonprofit CDFI Intermediary that provides capital and capacity building for a national network of 900+ mission-driven, regulated credit unions—which include CDFIs and financial cooperativas in Puerto Rico—that collectively manage $330 billion in assets and serve 23 million individuals across the country.
- Justice Climate Fund ($940 million award), a purpose-built nonprofit supported by an existing ecosystem of coalition members, a national network of more than 1,200 community lenders, and ImpactAssets—an experienced nonprofit with $3 billion under management—to provide responsible, clean energy-focused capital and capacity building to community lenders across the country.
- Appalachian Community Capital ($500 million award), a nonprofit CDFI with a decade of experience working with community lenders in Appalachian communities, which is launching the Green Bank for Rural America to deliver clean capital and capacity building assistance to hundreds of community lenders working in coal, energy, underserved rural, and Tribal communities across the United States.
- Native CDFI Network ($400 million award), a nonprofit that serves as national voice and advocate for the 60+ U.S. Treasury-certified Native CDFIs, which have a presence in 27 states across rural reservation communities as well as urban communities and have a mission to address capital access challenges in Native communities.