Dundee City Council has announced that voting in now open to decide which projects will benefit from a share of more than £375,000 in the first round of the Dundee Climate Fund.

People can decide how to spend the fund that will help grow local community projects acting on climate change, reducing carbon emissions and engaging communities.

After 29 initial applications were subjected to a feasibility review process using criteria outlined in the Dundee Climate Fund an expert panel has put forward 23 projects to the public vote. A single project withdrew its application.

John Alexander leader of Dundee City Council said: "To receive two dozen feasible, innovative and exciting schemes from a standing start that could go forward to Scotland's first council-led green participatory budgeting initiative speaks volumes about the creative and environmentally-conscious thinking that goes on in Dundee.

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"Encouraging people to take control of the purse strings for projects that will not only make a significant difference in their communities, but also on the wider stage is exactly the kind of innovation we are rightly proud of in the city.

"I don't envy the tough choices people are going to have to make between what I am sure are all interesting and worthwhile projects to help tackle the climate emergency and get us to our target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 or sooner."

Dundee declared a climate emergency in June 2019 to recognise the serious environmental, social and economic challenges faced by climate change, and launched the Dundee Climate Action Plan with the backing of local companies and organisations.

The new fund will run for four years with a total of £750,000 divided over two funding rounds and is designed to raise awareness of climate change while supporting communities to identify and vote on local projects aimed at delivering on the following themes:

• energy - reducing consumption, promoting energy efficiency, use of renewables;

• transport - encouraging active travel, decarbonising transport;

• waste - reducing waste, recycling, reusing resources;

• resilience - improving greenspaces, biodiversity, local food growing; and

• raising awareness (building capacity) - increasing awareness, engaging communities and young people in climate change.

Applications have been made by both small projects (between £6000 and £25,000) and large projects (up to a maximum of £100,0000) from Dundee-based not-for-profit, constituted groups.

Voting is open until March 24, and the successful projects will be notified in the weeks following the end of the voting period.