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€220M European Commission Investment Spurs 144 New Circular, Low-Carbon Projects
November 8, 2016
€220M European Commission Investment Spurs 144 New Circular, Low-Carbon Projects
November 8, 2016
by Libby MacCarthy
The European Commission has approved an investment package of €222.7 million from the EU budget to support Europe's transition to a more sustainable and low-carbon future. The EU funding will spur additional investments leading to a total of €398.6 million, which will be used to finance 144 new projects in 23 member states.
The support comes from the LIFE Programme for the Environment and Climate Action, the EU's funding instrument for the environment and climate action. €323.5 million will go to projects in the field of environment and resource efficiency, nature and biodiversity, and environmental governance and information.
The projects illustrate the Commission's ongoing commitment to its flagship circular economy package. A significant number of awards have already been and will continue to be granted to EU member states to help make the transition to a more circular economy. Examples of recognised projects in 2016 include 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 will support climate change adaptation and mitigation, and climate governance, and information projects totalling €75.1 million. Selected projects support the EU's target to reduce GHG emissions by at least 40 percent by 2030, contributing to the shift towards a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy. In 2015, such projects included restoration and carbon storage in peatlands in five EU countries (Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland), demonstration of the production of low-emission cement and concrete products in France, enhancing the climate resilience of vineyards in Germany and implementing adaptation measures in urban areas in Cyprus.
Read more at Sustainable Business.
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