Climate-Ready Workforce
NOAA’s Climate Ready Workforce for Coastal and Great Lakes States, Tribes, and Territories Initiative
Sea Grant and the NOAA Climate Program Office, with support from the NOAA Office for Coastal Management, seek to establish programs aimed at placing people across the country into good jobs that advance climate resilience and assisting employers in developing a 21st century workforce that is climate literate, informed by climate resilience, and skilled at addressing consequent challenges. NOAA will assist communities in coastal and Great Lakes states, territories and tribes so they may form partnerships that train workers and place them into jobs that enhance climate resilience.
NOAA envisions making between 10-20 awards under this competition, at amounts ranging from $500,000-$10 million each. NOAA expects projects to range in duration from 24 months to 48 months, beginning no earlier than August 1, 2024. This opportunity is open to state, tribal, territorial and local governments, institutions of higher education, and non-profit organizations in coastal states or territories. Resources from NOAA’s Climate Program Office, Office for Coastal Management, and National Sea Grant Office and its partners will be available to provide technical assistance to applicants and recipients to support these innovative efforts.
Read the formal announcement on Grants.gov NOAA-OAR-SG-2024-2007783 (PDF here)
Letters of intent are required in order to be eligible to submit a full proposal.
- Letters of Intent due: November 30, 2023
- Full Proposals due: February 13, 2024.
Questions about this opportunity may be submitted to sg.grants@noaa.gov.
Resources for Applicants
NOAA will host several informational webinars to support applicants. Use the links below to register and join the webinars.
- Informational webinar #1 – July 11 at 3 pm Eastern (PDF | Video | Transcript)
- Definition of “resilience” webinar – July 12 at 3 pm Eastern (PDF | Video | Transcript)
- Informational webinar #2 -Q&A focus– July 20 at 3 pm Eastern (PDF | Video | Transcript)
- How to leverage partnerships webinar – July 21 at 3 pm Eastern (PDF | Video | Transcript)
- Tips for first-time applicants webinar – August 2 at 3 pm Eastern (PDF | Video | Transcript)
Interested applicants are encouraged to use THIS FORM to request
for questions and topics to be addressed in webinars. Interested
applicants may also send emails to sg.grants@noaa.gov.
The “Resources for a Climate Ready Workforce” module of the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit provides definitions, examples, and explanations that will help applicants as they develop ideas and partnerships for the Climate Ready Workforce competitive funding opportunity.
Connect with other interested groups using our Discord server.
Download a Summary Factsheet about the Climate Ready Workforce Opportunity (PDF)
Additional Information
Other funding opportunities through the Inflation Reduction Act’s investment in NOAA:- NOAA Climate Resilience Regional Challenge (Letters of intent due August 21, 2023)
- NOAA Climate Resilience Accelerators (Expected to open July 2023)
Climate Ready Workforce Stories and News

