The European Commission is about to allocate €222.7 million from the EU budget to guide Europe towards a more sustainable and low-carbon future. The EU funding will trigger additional investments, leading to almost €400 million to be invested into 144 new projects in 23 Member States. The support is covered by the LIFE program for the Environment and Climate Action. €323.5 million will be spent on projects in the field of environment and resource efficiency, nature and biodiversity and environmental governance and information.
Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella, commented that he was “delighted to see that this year again our LIFE program will support many innovative projects to address our common environmental challenges. LIFE-funded projects use relatively little funding and with simple ideas to create profitable green businesses that deliver on the transition to a low-carbon and circular economy.”
Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias Cañete, added that these projects would create the right conditions to promote “innovative solutions and spread best practices in reducing emission and adapting to climate change across the European Union.” He also said that this package was a means to support the EU’s implementation of the Paris Agreement, which entered into force last week.
The new tranche of financial support demonstrates the Commission’s ongoing commitment to its circular economy package, which includes projects such as the new energy-saving hydrogen-electric garbage trucks in Belgium, technologies for reducing the health risks of sludge in wastewater pioneered in Italy and a project to help Greek municipalities, such as Olympia, increase recycling rates. In the field of climate action, the investment package will support climate change adaptation, climate change mitigation and climate governance and information projects totaling €75.1 million.
