The European Commission has decided to invest €101.2 million in 10 integrated projects under the LIFE Environment and Climate Action programme, the institution announced on Monday, 17 February. These are large-scale, innovative projects with the potential to support the EU's transition to a sustainable, climate-neutral economy that respects nature and biodiversity.
All of them are eligible for co-financing from the EU's Financial Instrument for the Environment and Climate.
They are to be implemented in nine Member States: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Slovakia and Spain.
These integrated projects aim to improve the management of the Natura 2000 network (Estonia, Ireland and Cyprus), to improve water quality in rivers and lakes (Latvia), to improve air quality (Slovakia, the Czech Republic), to improve waste management (Greece) and to encourage sustainable finance (France). Others pertain to solutions for adapting to climate change (France) or resilience to climate change (Spain, the Basque Country).
All of these projects will support the European Green Deal, according to the Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans, and Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius.
LIFE integrated projects help to implement EU environmental legislation on a larger scale than that of individual Member States, and assist with increasing the impact of funding on plans developed at a regional, multi-regional or national level. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)