About Climate Shield
What is Climate Shield?
Climate Shield connects young climate leaders and organisations across Africa and the Global South with climate opportunities — grants and funding, fellowships, scholarships, jobs, internships, projects, education and training, and volunteer roles.
It began as a digital platform and is being built towards a physical climate incubation hub. The aim is not just to list opportunities, but to help people actually win them.
Who is Climate Shield for?
If you are looking for opportunities: students, early-career professionals, researchers, activists, and youth-led organisations working on climate, energy, environment, conservation, agriculture, or adjacent fields.
If you have opportunities to share: NGOs, funders, foundations, universities, research institutes, and private sector organisations looking to reach climate talent.
Do I have to be based in Africa to use Climate Shield?
No. The platform is open to anyone, and many listed opportunities are global. The focus on Africa and the Global South reflects where we see the widest gap between climate ambition and access to funding — not a restriction on who can browse or apply.
Does Climate Shield fund projects directly?
Not at present. Climate Shield connects you to opportunities offered by other organisations. Applications are made to those organisations, on their own platforms and terms.
Is it free to use?
Browsing and searching opportunities is free.
Who runs Climate Shield?
Climate Shield is led by CEO Martin Manyozo, with an office in Lilongwe, Malawi. You can reach the team through the contact page.
Finding opportunities
What kinds of opportunities are listed?
Eight categories: Grants / Funding (calls for proposals, small grants, seed funding), Fellowships (structured leadership and action-learning programmes), Scholarships (funded study), Jobs (paid employment), Internships, Education Training (courses and workshops), Projects (calls for partners and consultancies), and Volunteer Roles.
Note that Jobs is one category among eight — most of what Climate Shield lists is not conventional employment.
How do I search for something specific?
Start at Browse Opportunities. You can search by keyword, filter by location, and filter by category, or use Advanced Search to combine filters.
If you are not sure what you are looking for yet, browsing a single category is usually more productive than a keyword search — funding calls are often worded very differently from how people search for them.
Can I get notified when new opportunities are posted?
Yes. Create a free account and set up an alert, and you will be emailed when new listings match your criteria. Given how short some application windows are, this is the single most useful thing you can do on the platform.
Can I save opportunities to come back to?
Yes — bookmark any listing while logged in. Useful for building a shortlist before you commit time to applications.
How current are the listings?
Listings carry their own deadlines and link back to the original source. Because deadlines and eligibility rules are set by the organisation offering the opportunity and can change without notice, always confirm the deadline and requirements on the official application page before you apply. Treat Climate Shield as where you discover an opportunity, and the official page as the authority on its details.
A listing has a broken link or wrong information. What should I do?
Tell us through the contact page and we will check it. Choose “other (specify)” as the subject and mention the listing name.
Accounts and applying
Do I need an account to apply?
You can browse without one. An account lets you bookmark listings, set up alerts, store your profile and CV, and track what you have applied for.
How do I apply for an opportunity?
Open the listing and use the apply option. Some opportunities are applied for through Climate Shield; others send you to the organisation’s own portal. The listing tells you which.
Read the full listing before starting. Funders often require documents — budgets, letters of support, registration certificates, referee details — that take days or weeks to assemble.
Does Climate Shield decide who gets selected?
No. Selection is entirely the decision of the organisation offering the opportunity. We have no influence over outcomes and cannot follow up on your application status.
For organisations
How do we list an opportunity?
Create an account and submit through Post an Opportunity. You can manage your listings from your dashboard.
What makes a listing perform well?
Be explicit about eligibility, deadline, funding amount, and whether the opportunity is remote or location-bound. The most common reason a listing generates weak applications is vague eligibility — unsuitable people apply and suitable people self-exclude.
Practical
Is there a cost to applying for the opportunities you list?
Legitimate grants, fellowships and scholarships do not charge application fees. If an opportunity asks you to pay a fee to apply, to secure a slot, or to release funding, stop and report it to us. Some universities charge admission application fees, which is normal and separate — but a funder asking for money is not.
How do I contact a human?
Use the contact page. Choose the subject that fits, or “other (specify)” if none do, and you will get a reply by email.
