US allocates $60 million for ocean climate resilience accelerators

The US administration announced a $60 million Ocean-Based Climate Resilience Accelerators programme through NOAA, funding small-business climate solutions via public-private partnerships. The two-phase grant structure offers a model for blended-finance climate accelerators relevant to India's blue economy and coastal resilience efforts.

The Biden-Harris Administration announced a $60 million investment in the Ocean-Based Climate Resilience Accelerators programme, launched by the Department of Commerce and NOAA and funded through the Inflation Reduction Act. The programme establishes business accelerators across ocean-based climate resilience themes including ocean renewable energy, coastal and ocean carbon sequestration monitoring, hazard mitigation, coastal resilience and ecosystem services. It operates in two phases: phase one funds selected projects up to $250,000 each for accelerator design, with applications open until September 11, 2023.

The programme affects US-based organisations, small businesses, states, territories, Tribal governments, municipalities and eligible nonprofits developing ocean-based climate technologies. NOAA framed the effort as requiring participation from government, the private sector, academia, tribes and stakeholders. Small businesses developing renewable energy, carbon-sequestration monitoring, coastal-resilience and ecosystem-service solutions stand to gain accelerator support, capital access and scaling assistance, with coastal communities and the wider blue economy positioned as ultimate beneficiaries of the resulting technologies and jobs.

Eligible organisations should apply for phase one funding before the September 11, 2023 deadline, with phase-one applicants then able to seek up to $10 million each to implement their accelerator designs in phase two. Applicants are directed to the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System Office website and the Notice of Funding Opportunity. Indian blue-economy planners, coastal-resilience programme designers and climate-finance practitioners should monitor this public-private accelerator model as a template for mobilising private capital toward coastal adaptation and ocean climate solutions.

Key figure — Phase two funding ceiling: up to $10 million per project