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Got a story that transcends the climate silo and intersects with the heart of communities? The climateXchange (cXc) Story to Life Climate Action in Your Community Grant 2026 is now open for applications.
With the Story-to-Life grant programme, we want to support and enhance journalism that focuses on responses within local communities to the challenges of the changing climate, with the aim of inspiring action on climate and leading to measurable real-life impact — a key part of this initiative.
With this impact-driven storytelling at its core, the initiative aims to foster collaborative reporting projects that transcend their local settings and offer climate-conscious journalism that is relatable and inspiring wherever it is found.
If so, this grant is for you. We are seeking proposals for solutions-focused climate journalism projects that prioritise real-world impact while highlighting the power of local communities to respond to the climate crisis.
We want to tell stories that do more than raise awareness—stories that document, celebrate, and accelerate the solutions that are already happening in your town, city, province or region.
We are looking for impact-first stories that move beyond ‘climate doom’ and focus on actionable, scalable, community-led resilience. We are interested in solutions-oriented stories about local social groups, neighbourhood associations, or community initiatives that are actively responding to climate-related challenges in ways that could be replicated in other communities. These could be parenting groups, sports teams, farmers, conservation groups: anyone who is demonstrating an inspiring approach to the change they are witnessing.
We’ll hold an applicant Q&A on 29 September 2026 at 1pm GMT - register here - to learn more about the grant, find out about previous grantees’ experiences, and discover how to optimise your chances of a successful pitch.
Successful pitches will clearly articulate:
Grant award winners will receive:
Previous Story to Life grantees have achieved outcomes including:
In addition to financial support, grantees will receive regular, tailored mentorship from our editorial and impact teams.
Click below for some additional information regarding the climateXchange (cXc) Story to Life grant programme.
Submit an online application before 14 October 2026, 23:59GMT. Here is a preview of the application form, so you can see what information we require.
This grant is designed to support and enhance journalism that focuses on responses within local communities to the challenges of the changing climate, with the aim of inspiring action on climate and leading to measurable real-life impact.
No, you don’t need to be a cXc member. However, if you aren't you will be screened for membership and this will be granted if your pitch is successful.
The selected pitches will be awarded a maximum of £3,000 GBP (you can apply for less than this). This will be paid by climateXchange in two instalments. Half of the amount you apply for must be used for story development. The other half must be used for impact measurement.
Your application will be assessed against four core criteria:
We will ask for light-touch general and financial reporting at the end of the project – templates will be provided. We also want to see your commitment to demonstrating long term impact and we will ask for reporting beyond the end date of this project.
Shortlisted applicants will be invited to an online interview in early November 2026. The final winner(s) will be announced on 24 November 2026.
If you have questions, please email lucy@syli.org.uk
The grant is open to journalists, media outlets and storytellers worldwide. Applicants must be part of a news organisation.
Applicants will fully own their ideas, and hold full editorial and legal responsibility for the story and related activities. cXc has no rights over the intellectual property. We ask that the methodology and learning are open source. However, all copyright and IP of the story and research is yours.
climateXchange is the flagship initiative of Syli, our parent company—a non-profit dedicated to mission driven journalism. With a vision of a world where everyone has access to equitable, trustworthy and accurate information we are on a mission to create a healthier, more sustainable media ecosystem for better informed global audiences.
