The European Commission has announced an investment of over €110 million into LIFE programme integrated projects for environmental and climate protection, selected after a call for proposals covering the year 2020.
The LIFE Programme is the EU’s funding instrument for the environment and climate action, and the new funding will support new major environmental and climate projects in 11 member countries – Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovenia.
Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius commented: “LIFE Programme integrated projects is one of the main tools to make the green transition a reality by delivering targeted changes on the ground.
“Through these projects, Member States can green their economies, bring back nature and biodiversity, and improve their resilience. I am looking forward to seeing the benefits that this investment will bring in the 11 countries and beyond their borders.”
The winning projects include:
Nature conservation: A project in France will introduce measures to halt and reverse biodiversity decline in the Grand Est region by, for instance, setting up three pilot forest areas. Another project will mitigate the adverse effects of human activities that threaten Finland’s marine and coastal biodiversity, by monitoring and improving the management of the national network of Marine Protected Areas. These projects will help deliver the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.
Climate change mitigation: LIFE funding will help Lithuania reach the objectives set out in its national energy and climate plan (NECP), including more efficient buildings, climate-friendly mobility, an energy-saving industry, and enhanced green public procurement. In Estonia, various tools and solutions will be created for the deep renovations on a range of buildings in three cities, which can then be replicated across Estonia and other Member States and support the EU’s Renovation Wave Strategy.
Clean air: A project in Poland will implement measures to improve overall air quality in the region of Silesia where air pollution is among the most severe in Europe, by replacing small-scale solid-fuel domestic heating devices with less polluting alternatives. This project contributes to the EU’s 2030 greenhouse gas emission targets and the Zero Pollution Action Plan.
More information about this announcement is available on the European Commission website.
More information about the projects by country is available on the European Commission website.
