EU celebrates best projects for nature, environment and climate action

LIFE AWARDS WINNERS

From 15 finalists, three exceptional projects have been selected as this year's LIFE Awards winners. The awards were presented by Mr Daniel Calleja Crespo, Director-General of the European Commission's Directorate General for Environment, and Ms Yvon Slingenberg, Director of International Mainstreaming and Policy Coordination, Directorate General for Climate Action.

The winning projects were chosen for their contribution to environmental, economic and social improvements, paying special attention to their innovation, replicability, relevance to policy and cost effectiveness.

LIFE Award for Nature:

• LIFE WOLFALPS (Italy) – coordinated conservation actions in the Alpine regions of France, Italy and Slovenia. Minimising conflict with people has helped increase the number of wolf packs and the species' range.

LIFE Award for Environment:

• LIFEAGROINTEGRA (Spain) – showed that integrated pest management is a viable alternative to chemical pesticides on farms. Pesticide use was almost halved in pilot areas where farmers turned to natural predators, cover crops and other methods instead.

LIFE Award for Climate Action:

• oLIVE-CLIMA (Greece) – worked closely with farmers in Greece to boost the net ecosystem carbon balance through sustainable farming techniques that are adapted to climate change. Aspects of the country's rural development programme have been revised to take the project's lessons into account.

The other finalists were:

Nature category

• Lesser Kestrel Recovery (Bulgaria)
• TEN - T.E.N. (Trentino Ecological Network) (Italy)
• LIFE PODKOWIEC+ (Poland)
• PANNONICSK (Slovakia)

Environment category

• LIFE RURAL SUPPLIES (Spain)
• LIFE+ DIGITALIFE (Italy)
• LIFE BIOCOPACPlus (Italy)
• REPURPOSE LIFE (United Kingdom)

Climate Action category

• LIFE+ SmartPV (Cyprus)
• LIFE SMART HOSPITAL (Spain)
• LIFE GREEN GAS NETWORK (Italy)
• LIFE_WZROST_PL (Poland)

LIFE Citizen's Prize

Following a selection by LIFE National Contact Points, 9 of the 15 finalists were shortlisted for the LIFE Citizen's Prize, voted for by the public. The winner of the LIFE Citizen's Prize is LIFE+ SMARTPV. The project connected around 300 solar panel owners on Cyprus in a decentralised power network, making solar power better value. The Cypriot authorities have extended the payment scheme used for the pilot network to all owners of solar panels in the country.

LIFEtime Achievement Award

Two LIFEtime Achievement Awards were given to individuals in recognition of their significant long-term contribution to the work of the LIFE programme. Mr Bruno Julien was the first Head of “The LIFE Unit” within DG Environment, managing more than 800 projects during his tenure. During 24 years with the European Commission, he has also served as EU Ambassador to Australia.

Mr Miguel Ángel Simón Mata is a biologist who coordinated several LIFE projects to conserve the Iberian lynx population in Andalusia. These projects have made a significant contribution to an improvement in the conservation status of this species from 'critically endangered' to 'endangered' by the IUCN.

Background

The LIFE programme is the EU’s funding instrument for the environment and climate action. It has been running since 1992 and has co-financed about 5000 projects across the EU and in third countries. At any given moment some 1 100 projects are in progress. The budget for 2014–2020 is set at €3.4 billion in current prices and covers a sub-programme for environment and a sub-programme for climate action. For the next long-term EU budget 2021-2027, the Commission is proposing to increase funding by almost 60% for LIFE.

#EUGreenWeek 2019 is built around the findings of the Environmental Implementation Review. This is a set of reports published by the European Commission on the state of implementation of environmental laws in Europe. Environmental laws improve water and air quality, they protect nature, and they encourage recycling and waste management. But to really make an appreciable difference, these EU laws must be implemented in full.