Climate Action Voucher

Under Ireland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) (2021-2026), projects supporting the digital and climate transition of enterprise are being funded through the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility. This covers projects that will facilitate emissions reductions as part of a decarbonisation plan.

Overview

The Climate Action Voucher is available to eligible companies to access up to 2 days independent technical or advisory services support related to the current and future operations of their business. The voucher may be used to obtain services from approved providers (directory link available below).

The objective of the Climate Action voucher is to help companies prepare a plan for the low carbon, more resource efficient economy of the future whether a company is starting out on their green transformation journey or have already started. Scientific evidence shows that we must act now to limit global warming to 1.5°C to avoid the catastrophic consequences of climate change. This translates to halving greenhouse gas emissions every decade starting now to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

It is expected that outcomes of this short assignment will lead to further training/technical feasibility/innovation/ capital projects, i.e. it will start companies on a journey of activities.

The Climate Action Voucher is funded under the Climate Planning Fund for Business, which is operating under the Green Transition Fund. The overall objective of which is to accelerate the decarbonisation of Irish enterprise, as part of Ireland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan, funded by the European Union.

Am I eligible?

The Voucher is open to Enterprise Ireland or Údarás na Gaeltachta clients. (HPSU, Small, Medium or Large). For further information on eligibility contact your Development Adviser.

Note that the State Aid basis for this offer is de minimis funding.

If you are not a client of Enterprise Ireland and employ less than 10 employees, you should contact your Local Enterprise Office.

What costs are eligible?

The voucher covers either technical or advisory services related to the Operations of the business from an approved service provider up to a value of €1,800. A maximum daily rate of €900 per day shall apply. It is expected that the support would be provided over a relatively short period but can be spread out over a maximum of 6 weeks.

Eligible Projects must include one of the following activities;

• Develop a Sustainability/Decarbonisation Action Plan
• Develop a Circular Economy Action Plan

Examples of eligible activities are outlined in the table below.

Eligible activities do not include energy audits or general consultancy, design, installation or commissioning, or project implementation.

The project scope will be developed between the company and the service provider.

Note: SMEs with an energy spend >€10,000/annum that are not already mandated to get an audit are potentially eligible for €2000 voucher towards an SEAI Energy Audit

Environmental Compliance and Do No Significant Harm

All projects supported under the Climate Planning Fund for Business must comply with relevant EU and national environmental legislation and in particular with the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01).

Specifically the following projects are not eligible:

• activities related to fossil fuels, including downstream use¹;
• activities under the EU Emission Trading System (ETS) achieving projected greenhouse gas emissions that are not lower than the relevant benchmarks²;
• activities related to waste landfills, incinerators³ and mechanical biological treatment plants⁴; and
• activities where the long-term disposal of waste may cause harm to the environment.

¹Except projects under this measure in power and/or heat generation, as well as related transmission and distribution infrastructure, using natural gas, that are compliant with the conditions set out in Annex III of the ‘Do no significant harm’ Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01).

² Where the activity supported achieves projected greenhouse gas emissions that are not substantially lower than the relevant benchmarks an explanation of the reasons why this is not possible should be provided. Benchmarks established for free allocation for activities falling within the scope of the Emissions Trading System, as set out in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/447.

³ This exclusion does not apply to actions under this measure in plants exclusively dedicated to treating non-recyclable hazardous waste, and to existing plants, where the actions under this measure are for the purpose of increasing energy efficiency, capturing exhaust gases for storage or use or recovering materials from incineration ashes, provided such actions under this measure do not result in an increase of the plants’ waste processing capacity or in an extension of the lifetime of the plants; for which evidence is provided at plant level.

⁴This exclusion does not apply to actions under this measure in existing mechanical biological treatment plants, where the actions under this measure are for the purpose of increasing energy efficiency or retrofitting to recycling operations of separated waste to compost bio-waste and anaerobic digestion of bio-waste, provided such actions under this measure do not result in an increase of the plants’ waste processing capacity or in an extension of the lifetime of the plants; for which evidence is provided at plant level.

Call close date

There are no call close dates. The process is not competitive and is approved by Enterprise Ireland management.

How do I apply?

You should contact your agency advisor in advance of submission as they will be required to approve the application.

You can apply via the Enterprise Ireland Online Application System

APPLY HERE

Notes:

• As part of the application you will need your CRO number.
• The voucher is only valid for costs incurred after your application is approved.
• It is expected that the support would be provided over a relatively short period but can be spread out over a maximum of 6 weeks.
• Companies will be required to provide their organisational carbon footprint as part of the application process either through completion of the Climate Toolkit 4 Business Carbon Calculator, GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, ISO 14064-1 Standard or similar

Where can I find a suitable service provider?

A listing of approved services providers is published on our Green Service Providers Directory (.xlsx). A company may only select a service provider from this directory.

Applications by other firms to join the directory can be made by emailing green@enterprise-ireland.com

Sufficient information must be provided to Enterprise Ireland to demonstrate that the proposed consultant/trainer is qualified to carry out the proposed work and has previously carried out similar assignments satisfactorily.

Note that any provider delivering services under this scheme must not be a direct or indirect employee or director of the recipient company.

Enterprise Ireland does not give any warranty, either express or implied, as to the qualifications or suitability of any of the persons on the list of service providers and Enterprise Ireland will not be liable for any loss and/or damage caused by a company’s decision to retain the services of such a service provider.

Claims Process

If you have completed a Climate Action Voucher project, details on the Claims process are available here

Key contact/more information

For more information, please contact your Enterprise Ireland Adviser.

If you are not a client, please contact your nearest Enterprise Ireland Regional Office.

For general enquiries about the Green Transition Fund, please email green@enterprise-ireland.com

Climate Action Voucher Assignment Guidelines (.docx) and Green Offer Reference Document - for more information on eligible activities, and the application and claims process

Climate Action Application Form (.pdf) – this is for information purposes only, application is made on-line