With €5.45 billion over seven years (compared with currently €3.5 billion), as proposed by the Commission on Friday 1 June, the EU’s LIFE programme dedicated to the environment and climate action will, after 2020, enjoy an increase of 55.5% in its budget for funding projects to the service of universal sustainable development objectives, meeting the requirements of the Paris climate agreement, and implementing the EU legislation.
This is what is provided for in the proposed LIFE post-2020 regulation presented by the European Commission on Friday 1 June to detail its proposal on this financial instrument as part of its draft multiannual financial framework (MMF) 2021-2027, tabled on 2 May.
Addressing the press, Karmenu Vella, European Environment Commissioner, said this is one of the six funding programmes “with the largest proportional increase in a context of budgetary constraint. This is justified by LIFE’s past successes”.
LIFE’s objective will be to contribute to environmental protection and speed up the transition towards a clean, energy efficient, low carbon economy that is resilient to climate change.
Innovations include: more emphasis on clean energy as well as on safeguarding nature and biodiversity, extension of the geographic coverage to third countries, simplification of procedures for eligibility to the fund, and strengthening of integrated strategic projects.
Out of the €5.45 billion envelope in current prices for the whole period, the Commission proposes to allocate €3.5 billion to LIFE’s “environment” chapter and €1.95 billion to the “climate action” chapter.
The “environment” chapter will include a sub-programme on “nature and biodiversity” (€2.1 billion), and a sub-programme on the “circular economy and quality of life” (€1.3 billion).
The “climate action” chapter will include a sub-programme on “adaptation and mitigation” (€950 million) and another on “transition towards clean energy”.
The LIFE programme has proven its worth by financing over 4,500 projects since 2014. As a direct financing instrument, it will serve as a catalyst for investment for the environment and climate in all relevant policies, Vella said. It will above all contribute to the Commission’s objective to allocate at least 25% of all future MFF spending to climate action, which is an integral part of cohesion policy, regional development, energy, transport, research and innovation, the Common Agricultural Policy, and European development policy.
NGOs disappointed. The WWF said that this proposal and the proposal for the future Common Agricultural Policy in the EU’s budget post-2020 were “far from living up to the EU’s ambition to tackle biodiversity loss and deterioration of the environment and to finance nature conservation projects adequately”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)