The Ambition Initiative Call (launched in 2020) and the Ambition Initiative – Round Two (launched in 2021) under the former NAMA Facility featured several new characteristics that distinguished them from previous Calls (1st-7th), targeting an even higher level of ambition in mitigation projects to achieve transformation towards carbon-neutrality and to allow countries to build back greener as they recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. The new characteristics included: – Focus on enhanced and ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) as an eligibility criterium; – focus on projects targeting sectors explicitly included in the enhanced NDCs; – emphasis on the role of global cooperation in climate change mitigation, in particular on cooperation with the NDC Partnership (NDCP); – the requirement to ensure contribution to existing national efforts for green recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic; – strengthened emphasis on innovation in the context of raised NDC ambition and consideration of applications for projects that require a small sized pilot for novel technologies before moving into a larger scale project (the focus on novel technologies was optional for projects); – increased upper funding volume of EUR 25 million per project; – disbursement of additional budget for highly successful projects; – possibility for commercial organisations to serve as Applicants/Applicant Support Partners (ASPs) and implementation organisations (former NSOs).
