(*) Key achievements in the table state which period they relate to. Some come from the implementation of the predecessor programmes under the 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework. This is expected and is due to the multiannual life cycle of EU programmes and the projects they finance, where results often follow only after completion of the programmes.
Budget for 2021-2027
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Rationale and design of the programme
The programme for the environment and climate action (LIFE) aims to facilitate the shift towards a sustainable, circular, energy-efficient, renewable energy-based, climate-neutral and climate-resilient economy. LIFE will contribute to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and our vulnerability to the harmful effects of climate change, to protect, restore and improve the quality of the environment – including air, water and soil – and to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. Moreover, it will tackle the degradation of ecosystems, including through supporting the implementation and management of the Natura 2000 network, thereby contributing to sustainable development.
Our environment and climate are under threat by the cumulative impact of human activities. The EU is committed to protect the environment and its biodiversity, ensure the quality of the air that we breath, carefully manage water resources and waste, increase our reliance on clean energy and mitigate and adapt to climate change dynamics.
Over the years, environmental, climate and relevant energy legislation and policy of the Union have delivered substantial improvements to the state of the environment. However, major challenges remain, which, if left unaddressed, might have significant negative consequences for the well-being of European citizens.
A healthy and sustainable environment and the climate are public goods. When a Member State decides how much to invest in these areas, it may fail to consider the benefits that such investments bring to other Member States. This means that intervention and investments also need to take place at the EU level.
LIFE aims to contribute to:
- shift towards a sustainable, circular, energy-efficient, renewable energy-based, climate-neutral and resilient economy;
- protecting, restoring and improving the quality of the environment, including the air, water and soil;
- halting and reversing biodiversity loss and tackling the degradation of ecosystems
LIFE is designed to support the objectives of EU legislation and policy on the environment – including nature and biodiversity – and on climate action, including the transition to renewable energy and increased energy efficiency through:
- developing and promoting innovative techniques and approaches and contributing to the knowledge base and to the application of best practices and disseminating knowledge and best practices, including through the support of the Natura 2000 network;
- improving governance at all levels, in particular through enhancing capacities of public and private entities and the involvement of civil society;
- developing, implementing, monitoring and enforcement of relevant Union legislation and policy on the environment, in particular by enhancing the capacities of public and private actors and the involvement of civil society;
- catalysing the large-scale deployment of successful technical and policy-related solutions by integrating related objectives into other policies and public and private sector practices, mobilising investment and improving access to finance.
Being implemented by DG Environment, DG Climate Action and DG Energy, the LIFE programme is in a unique position to closely support the implementation of the EU environment, climate action and clean energy legislation and policies. The overall structure of the LIFE programme is in fact designed to support the implementation of the European Green Deal on the ground, while ensure close alignment with the EU environment, climate action and clean energy legislation and policy priorities.
LIFE comprises four subprogrammes: (1) ‘Nature and biodiversity’; (2) ‘Circular economy and quality of life’; (3) ‘Climate change mitigation and adaptation’; and (4) ‘Clean energy transition’.
In these subprogrammes, LIFE finances activities such as:
- strategic nature projects that support the achievement of EU nature and biodiversity objectives, by implementing coherent action programmes in Member States in order to mainstream the objectives and priorities into other policies and financing instruments;
- strategic integrated projects that implement – on a regional, multi-regional, national or transnational scale – environmental or climate strategies or action plans developed by Member State authorities and required by specific EU environmental, climate or relevant energy legislation or policy;
- standard action projects are projects pursuing the testing of innovative solutions and/or the promotion of best practices on environment, nature and biodiversity and climate change mitigation and adaptation;
- other projects including top-down grants the LIFE Clean Energy Transition Coordination and Support Actions supporting capacity buildings and the enabling framework for renewable energy and energy efficiency uptake;
- procurement and other actions (e.g. studies to support the evaluation and monitoring of policies, technical assistance to support Member States in the implementation and monitoring of environmental and climate policies, information and communication activities), technical assistance for supporting green investments, prizes, etc.
LIFE is implemented through direct management (grants, procurement, prizes and technical assistance to support investments) and indirect management for specific activities, including with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support the mobilisation of investments in line with the objective of the LIFE programme.
Within the Commission, DG Environment is the lead, with support from DG Energy and DG Climate Action. Each DG is responsible of specific subprogrammes. The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency manages the bulk of the grants, few procurement activities and a technical assistance scheme to support green investment and the greening of other investments (Green Assist).

The number of subprogrammes has increased from two (environment and climate action) to four (nature and biodiversity, circular economy and quality of life, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and clean energy transition).
The ‘Clean energy transition’ subprogramme has an incorporated actions for capacity building supporting energy, efficiency and renewable energy previously funded under Horizon 2020 (until 2020).
Building on the strategic integrated projects first launched under the 2014-2020 LIFE programme, the 2021-2027 LIFE programme will continue to support strategic integrated projects (to a slightly greater scale than previously) and has introduced a dedicated source of funding to support strategic nature projects under the ‘Nature and biodiversity’ subprogramme.
Programme website:
- The main website of the LIFE programme provides information on the programme itself, funding opportunities, project management and links to the database including : information on all LIFE projects (LIFE public project database), the best LIFE projects (Best projects and LIFE awards) and publications (LIFE publications)
Impact assessment:
- The impact assessment of LIFE was carried out in 2018
Relevant regulation:
Evaluations:
- The ex-post evaluation of the LIFE 2014-2020 is available under: ex-post evaluation
- Staff working document: SWD
- The mid-term evaluation of the LIFE 2021-2027 will be launched soon, outcomes are expected by end 2024.
Monitoring and evaluation:
Budget
Budget programming (million EUR):
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Financial programming:
+ EUR 5.4 million (+ 0%)
compared to the legal basis*
* Top-ups pursuant to Art. 5 of the multiannual financial framework regulation are excluded from financial programming in this comparison.
The top up is the result of multiple interventions on the budget programming of the LIFE programme, mainly linked to the annual increases decided by the Budget Authorities minus the reductions due to the transfer of funds to other budget line (e.g. for the European Environmental Agency).
Budget performance – implementation
Cumulative implementation rate at the end of 2023 (million EUR):
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Voted budget implementation (million EUR) (*):
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The bulk of 2023 appropriations – more than 80% of the budget – is used to finance different types of projects submitted by EU private and public organisations.
Approximately 17% of the budget is for the financing of procurement contracts to support the work on environment, climate and energy legislation and policies and 3% of the budget is devoted to the provision of technical assistance for facilitating green investments.
Procurement activities supports the development, monitoring, evaluation and enforcement of environmental and climate policies and legislation, including the support to EU Member States for their implementation. The cumulated budget programme implementation rate for the 3 years is 100%.
In 2023, EUR 683 million of the LIFE 2022 budget have been awarded to 205 LIFE projects on climate change mitigation and adaptation, nature and biodiversity, renewables energy, energy efficiency, zero pollution and circular economy.
They include 10 strategic integrated projects that will support the implementation of air quality plan in Poland, addressing the issues of energy poverty, a pioneering cross-border climate change adaptation strategy in France and Spain, a climate change mitigation plan in Finland, a national water sector plan in Lithuania, a network of marine protected areas in Ireland, sustainable urban mobility plans in Bulgaria, a peatland strategy in Austria, etc.
In 2023, the calls for proposals were received with great interest confirmed both by the number of organisations involved (about 3 000 applicant organisations) as well as by the high number of submitted proposals (over 900 proposals received with about EUR 2 billion of total requested budget).
About EUR 1.4 billion of projects could not be financed in 2023 of the calls for proposals launched in 2022 because of the budget limitations. The large majority (about 40%) is under the circular economy and quality of life subprogramme – covering resource efficiency and zero pollution – followed by climate change mitigation and adaptation (18%), nature and biodiversity (10%) and clean energy transition (9%). The first data available on the results of the calls for proposals 2024 show that the situation is the same for the calls for proposals launched in 2023, with EUR 1.1 billion of projects that could not be financed under the various subprogrammes (above EUR 300 million each under circular economy and quality of life and clean energy transition and about EUR 250 million each under climate adaptation and mitigation and nature and biodiversity). Still these data do not include the results of the calls for proposals for the strategic integrated projects financed under the climate action mitigation and adaptation, nature and biodiversity and circular economy and quality of LIFE subprogrammes,
Considering the planned co-financing, they would have represented an overall investment amount on environmental and climate action of almost EUR 0.5 billion.
LIFE has confirmed its capacity to attract a wide range of applicants, both private organisations (about 63% of the total, of which 55% are private commercial organisations) and public organisations (36% of the total). The participation of public and private research institutes and higher education institutions is also noticeable (25% of the total).
- Under the circular economy and quality of life subprogramme, the programme co-financed projects in the area of resource efficiency, including circular economy (e.g. recovery of critical raw materials), and water resilience, and projects for a toxic-free environment, among others on clean air, water, soils and/or to reduce hazardous chemicals. They contribute to the zero pollution action plan or the circular economy action plan.
- LIFE provides a unique contribution to nature and biodiversity by funding projects, in particular in the areas of biodiversity, habitats and species, which primary objective is nature conservation. It has supported projects that contribute to the implementation of the EU birds and habitats directives, in particular the development and management of the Natura 2000 network, and the invasive alien species regulation; and to the objectives of the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030.
- Under the climate change mitigation and adaptation subprogramme, LIFE projects contribute to the climate neutrality and climate resilience objectives of the European Climate Law. In particular, the subprogramme co-finances projects that are demonstrating innovative approaches and best practices in several areas: renewable energy and energy efficiency; phase-out of F-gases; enhancing carbon removal through peatland restoration, carbon farming and durable harvested wood products; reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the sectors covered by the EU emissions trading system; the development and implementation of national energy and climate plans; climate resilience and nature-based solutions for adaptation in urban, rural and coastal areas; improving knowledge and capacity of public authorities and citizens on climate adaptation and mitigation. These projects contribute to, among other things, the objectives and targets of the repowerEU plan, the energy efficiency and renewable energy directives, the F-gases regulation, the land use, land-use change and forestry regulation, the effort-sharing regulation, the legislative proposal on a EU certification framework for carbon removals and the regulation on the governance of the energy union and climate action, along with the functioning of the EU emissions trading system and the EU climate adaptation strategy.
- Under the clean energy transition subprogramme, the calls for proposals targeted enabling and support actions in line with the implementation of the energy efficiency, renewable energy and energy transition legislation in the fit-for-55 package to deliver on the European Green Deal and the repowerEU plan to phase-out EU dependence on Russian fossil fuels imports. The clean energy transition subprogramme focuses in supporting capacity buildings, project development assistance, investment mobilisation and citizens’ engagement in the energy transition. In this regard, among others, it supports the establishment of a one-stop shop for energy renovations, the deployment of energy communities, the modernisation of district heating systems, and the development and implementation of local and regional strategies and investment plans for the energy transition. In 2022, in line with the priority to phase-out fossil fuels use, the LIFE clean energy transition programme has strengthened its contribution to the area of decarbonisation of heating supply, by introducing topics specifically targeted to heat-pumps deployment and district heating system modernisation. In terms of the project portfolio, the clean energy transition subprogramme, under LIFE and precedent Horizon 2020 legacy frameworks, have now supported the establishment of over 41 one-stop shops for energy renovations accessible by over 190 million EU citizens, supported 750 renewable energy communities, developed over 700 local authorities sustainable energy and climate action plans and more than 200 investment plans, launched over 64 investment projects in energy efficiency and integrated renewables with a pipeline of EUR 1.75 billion, and supported Member States in their efforts to upskill building professionals through build up skills (14 active national roadmaps and networks).
In 2024, more than EUR 600 million will finance about 250 projects on nature and biodiversity (38% of the budget), on circular economy and zero pollution (25%), on climate change mitigation and adaptation (18%) and on sustainable energy (18%).
Approximately 3% of the budget will support technical assistance services for ‘green solutions’, where a lack of capacity to access funding is the main barrier for the large-scale deployment of a technology, approach or policy which has proven to be effective. This kind of support is implemented via different technical assistance facilities: by the European Investment Bank within the framework of InvestEU and by the Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency through green assist.
The required payment funds will mainly be used to finance ongoing projects and relevant contracts. Most of the projects and contracts are multiannual and payments are made in instalments.
Contribution to horizontal priorities
Green budgeting
Contribution to green budgeting priorities (million EUR):
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The contributions of the programme to climate mainstreaming and biodiversity for 2023 are estimates, as the bulk of the projects are under evaluation and have not started yet.
Given that the contributions to clean air, gender and digital economy are based on specific projects, data may only be available in the year n + 2.
In 2024 LIFE is expected to support about:
- 200 projects that will contribute to climate mainstreaming;
- 140 projects that will contribute to nature and biodiversity;
- 130 projects that will contribute to clean air.
The following projects contribute, for example, to climate mainstreaming.
- The LIFE + A_greenet project aims to reduce the vulnerability of cities along the coastline of the middle Adriatic Sea to rising temperatures and heatwaves. The project will seek to achieve this by implementing adaptation measures in urban areas and improving the governance and management of green areas through the development of supporting tools and participatory processes.
- The LIFE Reptes project aims to demonstrate a new circular model, applicable to wastewater treatment plants, that will integrate the production of biohydrogen from pre-treated lignocellulosic crop by-products and sludge from wastewater treatment plants by means of an innovative dark fermentation process. The fermented liquid stream will be used for biogas production through its use as an anaerobic digestion co-substrate.
The following projects contribute, for example, to nature and biodiversity.
- The LIFE restore for Mura-Drava-Danube Rivers project focuses on the conservation and restoration of the largest contiguous riparian forest system in the Danube River basin. For 5 years, 17 partners from Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia and Slovenia will collaborate on the restoration of the largest riparian forest system in the Danube River basin, a biodiversity hotspot with over 5 000 animal species, including 70 different varieties of fish, and more than 1 500 plant species.
- The Woodmeadowlife project is restoring a significant proportion of the wooded meadows in Estonia and Latvia, to establish long-term arrangements and infrastructure on private land for their future management and to highlight their ecosystem services, ecological functions and unique heritage value.
The following projects contribute, for example, to clean air.
- The I-Share LIFE project contributes to the implementation of EU legislation on air quality. It demonstrates innovative electric car-sharing models to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from passenger vehicles in small to medium-sized urban areas, namely in Bergamo, Como, Bollate and Busto Arsizio in Italy and Osijek in Croatia, each of which has 35 000 to 120 000 inhabitants.
- The LIFE green-stove project will produce an innovative pellet stove that can significantly reduce pollutant emissions and optimise the use of biomass as an alternative to fossil fuels for residential heating, providing 92% efficiency and cleaner combustion.
Taxonomy-relevant expenditure
The objectives of the LIFE programme are similar to the six environmental objectives defined in the taxonomy regulation. Most LIFE activities under all four subprogrammes aim to contribute to one or more of the environmental objectives set out in the taxonomy regulation, and could be taxonomy eligible, as they have direct and measurable environmental benefits.
Still, LIFE finances multiple activities- such as standard action projects, integrated projects, technical assistance, awareness-raising activities and access to justice - therefore it is necessary to differentiate the types of activities and their alignment with the taxonomy criteria.
While all of the activities financed follow the objectives of the taxonomy regulation, only standard action projects provide a substantial direct contribution to these objectives. Therefore, we will consider all standard action projects as a first approximation to LIFE expenditure that is relevant to taxonomy. Based on a high-level analysis, LIFE standard action projects are assumed to be compliant with the four criteria defined below.
LIFE focuses on supporting projects with the highest level of environmental ambition that aim either to substitute environmentally harmful activities or to decrease considerably the footprint of environmentally harmful activities that cannot be substituted. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that all LIFE-funded projects go beyond compliance with environmental legislation and intend to operate at a substantial contribution level. Standard action projects implement concrete improvements at the regional or local level with a direct benefit, such as projects implementing new climate-neutral farming models, demonstrating innovative methods of large-scale underground energy storage or applying a new solution for the management of mixed plastic waste. Integrated projects have a more complex intervention logic, as they support Member States in the implementation of environmental plans and strategies. A project in Estonia supports the implementation of the 2015-2021 river basin management plan of the East Estonia River Basin District, which will improve the status of surface and groundwater bodies and increase know-how and long-term capacity among all stakeholders involved. An integrated project in Slovenia supports the implementation of the EU waste framework directive, and aims to increase recycling rates and create more than 6 000 jobs relating to the circular economy and waste management. Since the integrated projects also create benefits that are not covered by the taxonomy regulation (implementation of legislation, increased stakeholder involvement), and the differentiation of the allocated budget is complicated, these have not been considered for the approximation of taxonomy-relevant expenditure.
All LIFE projects have to demonstrate that they do not significantly harm any of the other environmental objectives of the LIFE programme. LIFE projects are required to measure, against a defined baseline situation, their specific contributions to the environmental objectives of the taxonomy regulation.
Every project is carried out in compliance with the relevant law and regulations, thus they respect the minimum safeguards set out in the taxonomy regulation.
Based on this assessment, it is assumed that the standard action projects in the area of nature and biodiversity, circular economy and quality of life, climate mitigation and climate adaptation are taxonomy relevant. To fully understand the alignment with the taxonomy technical criteria, an analysis at project level would be necessary. This is complex, and is not possible under the current time and resource constraints.
To sum up, for the estimation of taxonomy-relevant expenditure under the LIFE programme, only standard action projects under the named subprogrammes are considered. These have direct and measurable benefits for the environmental objectives of the taxonomy regulation. Standard action projects that target climate and environment governance and information are not included. Furthermore, other project categories, such as technical assistance projects and operating grants, and all other projects, including coordination and support actions under clean energy transition, are not included.
Moreover, to avoid an overestimate, the amounts for strategic integrated and strategic nature projects will be excluded, given that they create benefits not covered under the taxonomy regulation.
LIFE contributions (EUR) to the following projects | 2021 | 2022 | Total |
---|---|---|---|
Standard action projects for climate change mitigation and adaptation, excluding climate governance and information projects | 60 554 600 | 57 056 129 | 117 610 729 |
Standard action projects for nature and biodiversity, excluding governance and information projects | 168 005 105 | 166 387 132 | 334 392 238 |
Standard action projects for resource efficiency, circular economy and zero pollution, excluding governance and information projects | 93 163 702 | 92 629 138 | 185 792 841 |
Total amounts | 637 795 808 |
The total amount of EU funding assumed to be taxonomy relevant is thus EUR 637 795 808 (based on data extracted from the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency project dashboard on 19 March 2024).
Gender
Contribution to gender equality (million EUR) (*):
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The LIFE programme does not directly target gender equality, since its main objective is linked to climate and environment spending. Still, a gender dimension is considered in some areas of intervention to identify how men and women relate to the environment and to climate action in different ways, thus addressing specific gender vulnerabilities (e.g. inherent to harmful chemicals such as endocrine disruptors and persistent organic pollutants).
The links between gender and chemicals are also outlined in the EU chemicals strategy for sustainability towards a toxic-free environment. Ongoing work in this area relates to the reinforcement of the legal framework – namely the regulation on the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals and the classification, labelling and packaging regulation – to support innovation for safe and sustainable chemicals and to promote better knowledge of factors justifying a gender-differentiated approach in sound chemical management. Recurrent LIFE-funded activities are the annual forum on endocrine disruptors, meetings and round-table discussions on the implementation of the chemicals strategy for sustainability and other activities in the area of chemicals and their impact on health. Other ad hoc activities include the development of the inter-organization programme for the sound management of chemicals toolbox for decision-making in chemicals management and the EU common data platform on chemicals.
A gender perspective is also included, where relevant, at the project level, often as a component of multidimensional projects. For example, the project LIFE22-CET-TOP clever aims to empower construction professionals and workers with the skills needed to face the challenges of the whole-life carbon and circular approach throughout a building’s life cycle, to also support the implementation of the level framework by all actors in the value chain. It will give a voice to female professionals and workers to raise awareness in relation to equal opportunities in the field.
Considering the level of granularity of the data, the limited size of the LIFE programme and its bottom-up approach, it is not appropriate to provide annual estimates of the project components contributing to gender equality in line with the principle of proportionality.
The above figures can therefore be considered a de minimis contribution.
Most key performance indicators under LIFE target natural resources and not people, such as the area of land on which soil quality is improving, increased efficiency in water management, improvements in waste management, reductions in the use of dangerous chemicals and additional annual renewable energy production. For those key performance indicators targeting people, numbers are collected at an aggregated level and differentiation between genders is difficult, for example population benefiting from an improvement in air quality, population benefiting from a reduction in noise pollution, population benefiting from a reduction in vulnerability to the adverse effects of climate change.
Generally, LIFE does not meet the conditions for either score 1 (‘A firm commitment toward gender equality of the programme, which has positive effects ex post, proven by quantitative or qualitative analysis’) or score 2 (the top-level ambition of the project/programme is to advance gender equality and/or women’s empowerment), since its primary objective is climate action and the environment. It would therefore be appropriate to move to score 0.
Digital
Contribution to digital transition (million EUR):
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- The digital perspective of the LIFE programme is essentially within the LIFE ‘Clean energy transition’ subprogramme, which supports coordination and initiatives to deploy smart solutions to advance the clean energy transition, in particular smart and system-integrating energy services and smart technologies to increase energy system management in buildings and enterprises.
- This subprogramme supports actions in the area of the digitalisation of the energy system – in line with the EU action plan for the digitalisation of energy – in particular with regard to digital tools and data supporting decision-making for energy-efficiency-related interventions, for example in building renovation projects. More specifically, the selected projects support the reliability of the key instrument of energy performance certificates, their integration with the smart readiness indicator and the automated issuing and roll-out of the building renovation passport.
- As part of the 2021 LIFE ‘Clean energy transition’ call for proposals, five grant agreements were signed in the area of smart buildings and smart energy services for a total EU-budget contribution of about EUR 11 million. As part of the 2022 LIFE clean energy transition call for proposals, four grant agreements were signed addressing smart buildings and digital solutions for energy performance certificates and building renovations for a total EU budget contribution of about EUR 7.6 million.
Budget performance – outcomes
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Link to file with complete set of EU core performance indicators
It was initially planned that reporting on the programme’s performance would only start in 2025 with new data coming from the 2021 call for proposals. As most of the results are already available, it has been decided to bring this forward by 1 year, even if not all the results expected from the 2021 projects have been validated and are, thererefore, included.
The implementation of the programme is largely on track to reach its milestones and targets. For some indicators the results exceed the milestones. This is due to the number and/or scope of the financed projects, which go beyond expectations. The LIFE programme has a bottom-up approach, and the choice of projects (and their contribution to a specific indicator) cannot be defined in advance. If these data are confirmed in the coming years, the milestones and targets will need to be increased.
All LIFE projects provide a direct contribution to various aspects of the European Green Deal: from biodiversity to climate mitigation and adaptation, and from zero pollution to the clean energy transition.
While LIFE activities tackle certain problems directly on the ground, the programme’s main impact is indirect through its catalytic role: support for small-scale actions intended to initiate, expand or accelerate sustainable production, distribution and consumption practices by supporting:
- the development and exchange of best practices and knowledge;
- the building up of capacities and the speeding up of the implementation of environmental and climate legislation and policies;
- the testing of small-scale technologies and solutions; and
- the mobilisation of funding from other sources.
The following LIFE activities make relevant contributions along these lines.
- The new green assist initiative has been designed to support capacity building and investment.
- Over 200 LIFE projects that began in 2023 are implementing innovative solutions on the ground to facilitate the shift towards a sustainable, circular, energy-efficient, renewable, energy-based, climate-neutral and climate-resilient economy and to protect, restore and improve the quality of the environment, including nature and biodiversity. This number includes projects that support the development and demonstration of innovative clean technologies, such as solar power and hydropower, thermal energy storage and heat pumps, contributing to the objectives of the proposed Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform.
- A total of 10 strategic integrated and strategic nature projects began in 2023. These projects are designed to support the implementation of plans and strategies required by EU legislation (e.g. air-quality plans, circular economy strategies, climate adaptation strategies) and to mobilise and coordinate additional funds coming from different sources, including national and private funding, to meet environmental and climate objectives.
Considering the various implementation periods, 200 000 hectares of land have been purchased across the EU under the nature and biodiversity subprogramme, which are now protected indefinitely.
The LIFE projects that started in 2023 are expected to contribute to the implementation of several EU legislative acts and policies on the environment, on climate action and on the clean energy transition. The projects will, for example, support the implementation of the zero-pollution action plan, the circular economy action plan, the EU birds and habitats directives, the invasive alien species regulation, the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030, the repowerEU plan, the energy efficiency, renewable energy and energy performance of buildings directives, the eco-design and energy labelling regulations, the F-gases regulation, the land use, land-use change and forestry regulation, the effort-sharing regulation, the legislative proposal on an EU certification framework for carbon removals and the regulation on the governance of the energy union and climate action, along with the functioning of the EU emissions trading system and the EU climate adaptation strategy.
Beyond projects, the LIFE programme financed several activities supporting the development of environmental, climate and energy legislation and policies, including the following.
- The repowerEU plan to phase out EU dependence on Russian fossil fuels imports by accelerating the clean energy transition.
- The implementation of the fit-for-55 climate and energy transition legislation and of the 2023 update of the integrated national energy and climate plans.
- The activities of the expert group supporting the development of methodologies for the certification of carbon removals, under the proposal for a regulation establishing an EU certification framework for carbon removals.
- The communication ‘Securing our future Europe’s – 2040 climate target and path to climate neutrality by 2050 building a sustainable, just and prosperous society’, which recommended a 90% reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, and the accompanying impact assessment on possible pathways to reach climate neutrality by 2050, which will inform the debate and the future legislative and policy choices.
- The communication ‘Managing climate risks – Protecting people and prosperity’, which set out how the EU and its Member States can prepare and implement policies to better anticipate, understand and address growing climate risks.
- The proposal for the new soil monitoring law, which provides a legal framework to help achieve healthy soils by 2050.
- The restriction of microplastics intentionally added to products, under the EU regulation on the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals and the environmental standards to make food and feed industrial plants greener.
- One association agreement with non-EU countries was signed, with North Macedonia. Entities from that country, along with Iceland, Moldova and Ukraine, are eligible for funding under the LIFE programme.
Synergies in the LIFE programme with horizontal priorities and within the programme
The LIFE programme contributes to the political priorities of the European Green Deal. This is also demonstrated by its financial contribution to biodiversity and the climate target.
LIFE projects are encouraged to pursue a multipurpose approach with respect to the objectives of the programme. This is promoted through a bonus that rewards projects that demonstrate important synergies between the various areas of the programme and its subprogrammes.
As an example, the Vitisom LIFE project contributed to the protection of the environment and the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, with positive impacts on biodiversity. The project aimed to introduce an innovative organic fertilisation system as a strategy to enhance vineyard soil protection. The project developed ‘variable-rate technology’ for organic fertilisation in vineyards. These also increase the carbon content of soil, and thus carbon sequestration. A range of environmental impacts was monitored, including the impact on the soil, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced and carbon dioxide flows into the atmosphere. The project team recorded increases in the organic matter in soils and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and nitrogen pollutants in the vineyards. Specifically, over a period of 5 years following the end of the project, the following results were forecast:
- a 30% reduction in the use of chemical fertilisers;
- a 20% reduction in the quantity of organic matter distributed in organic vineyards;
- a 5% average increase in organic matter in the soils;
- a 5% increase in soil biodiversity in terms of the presence of arthropods;
- a 10% reduction in emissions from vineyard soils in terms of carbon dioxide equivalent; and
- a 10% reduction in odour emissions from the distribution of fertilisers.
Several projects reduce both greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution (e.g. the CMCD project, the I-Share LIFE project).
Some projects address both biodiversity conservation and the reduction of air pollution. For example, LIFE Airfresh focuses on reforestation policies in cities and the creation of urban forests, which help biodiversity and reduce air pollution. By 2030, four reforested areas will contribute to enhancing biodiversity by providing habitat and food for pollinators and supporting native pollinator communities within cities. The City Biodiversity Index has already improved by + 2.4 compared to the 2020 baseline.
The following projects create synergy between biodiversity and both climate mitigation and adaptation: The integrated ‘living rivers’ project contributes to the implementation of the third river basin management plan for the Danube River by implementing measures to eliminate hydromorphological pressures and supporting ecological targets through the management of protected areas and sustainable forestry, land and fishery management. This will help, for example, to implement nature-based solutions and green infrastructure principles to increase climate resilience, improve water retention in the river basin, enhance biodiversity and reduce flood risk. The integrated ‘waters of life’ project aims to support the implementation of measures to protect and enhance high-status waters in Ireland. The project will focus on land-use pressures at a landscape- and catchment-wide scale, which may lead to a reduction in the amount of high-status waters. The integrated LIFE IP IRIS Austria project develops and implements river development and risk management concepts for flood protection and ecological river restoration. Pilot measures will remove four transverse structures and thus restore longitudinal continuity on a stretch of river about 85 km long. Improved water retention measures are applied over a 37 km stretch, and thus the risk of flooding will be reduced. Some 272 000 people will benefit from the project.
MFF 2014-2020 – LIFE
The LIFE programme 2014-2020 aims to facilitate the shift towards a sustainable, circular, energy-efficient, renewable energy-based, climate-neutral and climate-resilient economy. LIFE 2014-2020 has contributed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and our vulnerability to the harmful effects of climate change to protect, restore and improve the quality of the environment – including air, water and soil – and to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. Moreover, it has tackled the degradation of ecosystems, including through supporting the implementation and management of the Natura 2000 network, thereby contributing to sustainable development.
Budget implementation
Cumulative implementation rate at the end of 2023 (million EUR):
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- The required payment funds will mainly be used to finance ongoing projects and relevant contracts. Most of the projects and contracts are multiannual and payments are made in instalments.
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Link to file with complete set of EU core performance indicators
- The programme is on track as regards the 2014-2020 activities, the implementation of which will continue during 2023.
- In terms of outputs, in the 2014-2020 period the LIFE programme financed more than 1 400 projects that have contributed to the European Green Deal by mainstreaming nature and biodiversity and/or zero pollution and/or circularity and/or climate action goals.
- About one third of these projects are developing, demonstrating and promoting innovative techniques and approaches to achieve synergies between climate neutrality/adaptation and zero pollution, biodiversity or circular economy goals, thus contributing to promote a holistic vision of the environment.
- With the 11 additional integrated projects financed in 2021, the total LIFE financing for integrated projects amounts to EUR 110 000 000. These projects should facilitate the coordinated use of more than EUR 10 000 000 000 of complementary funding. This implies that for each euro financed by the LIFE programme in the years 2014-2020, an additional EUR 90 are expected to be financed from other sources for the implementation of the targeted plans. Experience shows that the amount of additional funds mobilised by the integrated projects tends to increase during the project lifetime.
- In particular, the 2014-2020 LIFE programme has already exceeded the 2020 targets related to a large number of indicators. Figures could slightly change, following the validation of performance data for ongoing and recently completed projects.
Sustainable development goals
Contribution to the sustainable development goals
SDG | Example |
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SDG1 End poverty in all its forms everywhere | The LIFE programme does not aim to directly address poverty. However, some projects may include activities directed at not leaving anyone behind and/or to promote social justice in reaching climate neutrality. |
SDG2 End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture | In LIFE, the promotion of sustainable agriculture is pursued in the framework of the nature and biodiversity projects and in the projects pursuing resource efficiency, clean water and water savings, soils, carbon farming and climate adaptation solutions. An example is the LIFE Innocereal, awarded in 2022, it will facilitate connections between the links of the cereals value chain by creating certification systems for low emission production, demonstrating its benefits for all the supply chain, and increasing the final product’s added value (bread, pasta, beer). In addition to increasing the production of cereals, LIFE Innocereal is expected to improve soil health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, thanks to decreased CO2 emissions as a result of 25% reduced use of nitrogenated fertilisers, 75% reduced use of phosphorous fertilisers, 45% reduced use of fossil fuels and a 50% decrease in herbicide use. |
SDG3 Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages | LIFE funds projects that work on improving air quality and addressing specific air pollutants, and projects setting out solutions to heatwaves and other extreme weather events and their impacts on health. An example is the CityTRAQ project that will contribute to bringing together regional and local authorities to strengthen the capacity of local policymakers and to adopt adequate measures to improve air quality. The project aims to enhance the planning capacity of local and regional authorities through tools and processes identifying challenges and facilitating the development of solutions and policy plans. The project demonstrates the applicability of air quality traffic data, models and tools in diverse city use-cases and engages schools and the wider public in setting up monitoring networks to raise awareness. |
SDG4 Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all | Recurrent activities in the LIFE funded projects include knowledge sharing, awareness raising and training activities, allowing to promote new sustainable practices and develop green skills. As an example, LIFE21-CET-BUILDSKILLS supported rebooting 13 Build-Up Skills National Platforms and Roadmaps for reskilling and upscaling building renovations workforce and professionals in line with the clean energy transition agenda. LIFE CET 2021 Build-Up Skills Call topic has financed 13 single-country projects in AT, BG, HR, CZ+SK, FR, EL, HU, IR, LT, NL, PL, RO, ES. |
SDG5 Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls | Some LIFE projects have a gender dimension, in particular linking with the One Health approach, and addressing environment and health. |
SDG6 Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all | LIFE projects help to prevent pollution, ensure climate-resilient, sustainable use and management of water, and improve the ecological status of water bodies. For example the ongoing LIFE REMEMBRANCE project produces and commercialises safe and innovative granules and cartridges for the removal of PFAS from drinking water and at the same time recycles high-value industrial waste coming from the production of HFM filters. This project might help to find a method to eliminate water contamination by PFAS by up to 100%. |
SDG7 Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all | The LIFE programme 2021-2027 includes a dedicated subprogramme: LIFE clean energy transition. Moreover, some aspects of sustainable energy have been considered under the subprogrammes on circular economy and climate change mitigation and adaptation. An example is the ‘one-stop shop’ project, which will set up a comprehensive one-stop shop in Czechia for the renovation of residential buildings. It will stimulate demand for building renovations and energy performance improvements via a new comprehensive service covering the whole 'customer journey', from the pre-consultancy phase to monitoring. In addition, the project will launch an interactive online building renovation calculator, which will support homeowners in their building renovation design. The one-stop shop will work closely with local construction companies, architects, engineers and financiers to increase high quality building renovations. The project will also build expertise and provide training, primarily for blue-collar professionals. It will ultimately help dwellers to live in more energy efficient, warmer and comfortable homes. LIFE OwnYourSECAP aims to involve, train, and assist more than 110 municipalities and 1500 public officers in 11 counties for the implementation of Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP). Such a plan for each municipality is key to climate and energy policy and are crucial to achieving local policy objectives, stakeholder, and citizen engagement, building capacity, and implementing carbon reduction measures. LIFE OwnYourSECAP supports the implementation of the plans via energy management systems, innovative engagement approaches, and training those responsible for action plans. |
SDG8 Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all | LIFE is a catalyst for investments in innovative green businesses that will help generate more jobs, both directly and indirectly. An example is the LIFE CARBON2MINE, awarded in 2022, proposes an innovative solution to contribute to climate change mitigation, focusing on one of the most economically depressed regions in Europe: the Asturian mining areas, directly affected by coal mine closures and the phase out of coal power plants. In this context, CARBON2MINE will restore mining areas through silvicultural models that improve carbon storage and sequestration capacity, biodiversity, and the supply of ecosystem services in this territory. The project will also contribute to a cleaner energy production and circular economy by using forest biomass and studying new silvicultural models aimed at producing primary and secondary forest biomass and by incorporating combustion ashes (residues) from nearby bioenergy production processes as fertilisers to forest plantations. CARBON2MINE is expected to launch a new model of economic reactivation, based on the promotion of business activities framed within the forestry field with a remarkable capacity to generate employment, attract population and stimulate the local economy, particularly in rural areas. LIFE21-CET-AUDITS-AUDIT-TO-MEASURE: Leading business towards climate neutrality by speeding up the uptake of energy efficiency measures from the energy audits. The LIFE 2021 project Audit-to-Measure is one example for the LIFE CET projects focusing on energy efficiency in enterprises and on the uptake of energy audits recommendations, to advance toward climate neutrality and increase EU competitiveness via energy efficiency measures. |
SDG9 Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation | LIFE promotes sustainable industry processes such as reduction of waste, water use, CO2 emissions, etc. An example is the LIFE@F-Gases project that aims to validate at industrial scale a new technique for separating, by distillation, the molecules composing F-gases, thereby introducing the principle of circular economy for gases that are not reusable today. This project is also a good example of how LIFE can help to uptake research and innovation. |
SDG10 Reduce inequalities within and among countries | The LIFE programme provides support adequate policies, laws and regulations are in place to prevent or redress environmental harms and to respond to the environment, climate and energy emergencies tackling economic and social injustice. An example is the LIFE21-CET-COALREGIONS-JUSTEM: Justice in Transition and Empowerment against energy poverty. The JUSTEM project awarded in 2021 is one example of the LIFE CET projects addressing specifically EU coal regions and their specific challenges to engage local communities and citizens in the just and clean energy transition, while taking attention to reduce inequalities. |
SDG11 Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable | LIFE supports cities in their ambitions towards better health, increased sustainability, or improved resiliency to climate change. Projects pursue different aims, ranging from improvements in air quality, including the transition to carbon neutrality, to sustainable management of water, to the integration of biodiversity conservation in urban landscape. The LIFE SNEAK project aims at the reduction of noise from roads in the densely populated urban area of Florence, where traffic noise and vibrations’ combine to cause severe disturbance to the population. This will be achieved by means of low-noise/vibration surfaces and retrofitting solutions. The LIFE AIRFRESH project aims to estimate the air pollution (PM, NO2, CO2 and O3) removed by urban forests and shrubs in Florence (Italy) and Aix-en-Provence (France), using reforested test areas. The project, which is running until 2024, reforests two urban areas with 1000 tress and quantifies the benefits of urban forests. The main objective of the LIFECOOLCITY project, awarded in 2022, is to increase the resilience of Estonian and Latvian urban areas to extreme weather events by focusing on 4 specific objectives: nature-based solutions, digital change, quality of planning and engaged communities with skilled enablers. The project is expected to increase the adaptive capacity of at least 10 000 EU cities in 23 EU Member States by implementing two innovative IT systems for the management of blue-green infrastructure (BGI). The EUROPE system, based on satellite data, will be implemented in the 10 000 selected EU cities to develop ranking of the BGI status. The CITY system, based on airborne data, will be implemented in the city of Wroclaw to precisely identify areas with the highest priority for action, link them to most effective Nature-based Solutions (NBS) interventions and monitor their performance after implementation. Based on the CITY system’s recommendations, the project will protect greenery, review management procedures and build blue-green infrastructures. The EUROPE and CITY systems will be commercialised and replicated during and after the project among the target group cities. The In-Plan project awarded in 2021 is instead one examples of the LIFE CET Local projects dedicated to cities and regions, for their designing and implementation of local transition plans. The In-Plan project in particular aims to bridge and integrate energy, climate, and spatial planning in cities. The 2021 CondoReno project is an example of support provided by LIFE CET for the deployment of Integrated Home Renovation Services/OSS for energy renovations of buildings, increasing energy efficiency and integrating renewable energy. CondoReno address the more challenging market of multi-apartment buildings renovations by deploying 4 OSS and developing two different models of services, one supported by local authorities and the other by market actors. |
SDG12 Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns | LIFE contributes to the shift towards a sustainable, circular, and climate-neutral economy by financing: innovative solutions to support value-added recycled materials, components, or products; the implementation of business and consumption models or solutions to support value chains, in particularly under the EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy; the identification, tracking, separation, prevention and decontamination of waste containing hazardous substances. An example is the CARBIP-LIFE project, which aims to demonstrate the industrial scale application of new, sustainably produced and circular composite aerogel-based insulation materials in the construction sector. In practice, the project demonstrates the system of insulated double walls, which are designed for disassembly. By demonstrating the application of new insulation materials, which are 100% recoverable upon deconstruction, the project supports circularity of the final product, while ensuring the use of products from natural sources of silica (including sand, olivine and bio-based resources), thus avoiding expensive and hazardous organosilanes, and saving energy during production. The LIFE-IP C-MARTLIFE project implements Flemish Waste Management policy, with a specific focus on accelerating and reinforcing the Plastics Action Plan. This will be achieved with innovative and effective approaches that prevent the loss of recyclable plastic in household and industrial waste, developing a strong collaboration between all waste stakeholders. The ongoing LIFE WASTE2BUILD project develops new circular construction and public works streams, and to prevent at source construction and public works waste based on local resources. This is done by using the levers of public ordering and refurbishment policies. The project sets up an innovative system to optimise resources and recover waste from the local construction and public works sector. |
SDG13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts | Although all LIFE subprogrammes contribute to prevent and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change, one LIFE subprogramme is fully dedicated to climate change mitigation and adaptation. The clean energy transition subprogramme focuses specifically on fostering the transition to more sustainable forms of energy consumption. Given that 75% of greenhouse gas emitted in the EU coming from energy consumptions, clean energy transition is a most fundamental area to address climate change. An example is the LIFE Agrestic project aims to foster the adoption by EU farmers of innovative and efficient cropping systems that have a high potential for climate change mitigation. The project distributes innovative tools and knowledge for climate change ready and resource-efficient agriculture. The proposed experimentation includes the introduction of legumes and catch crops in the crop rotations and the introduction of a decision support system to ensure efficient management of the innovative crop rotations, with a focus on diminishing the use of external inputs (nitrogen fertilisers, pesticides, etc.) and non-renewable resources (soil and fuel). The expected results include reduced agricultural Greenhouse gas emissions by 167% of total CO2 equivalent at the pilot sites. The project ‘people driven: adapting cities for tomorrow’ aims at developing and testing an integrated approach to urban climate change adaptation that draws on the efforts of multiple stakeholders, including local government, citizens, universities and private actors, to more effectively implement Nature Based Solutions. The project will deploy Natura based solutions across several pilot and replication sites. It will develop and test a replicable method for engaging citizens and local stakeholders in the deployment of Natura based solutions. Furthermore, it develops a digital tool to facilitate, track, and analyse the uptake of NBS in citizens’ private outdoor spaces. |
SDG14 Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development | Established together with the Nature directives, the LIFE programme has among its core activities support for nature and biodiversity. Throughout the years, LIFE projects contributed to the identification and designation of both the marine and terrestrial Natura 2000 network, purchased tens of thousands of hectares of Europe’s most rare and endangered habitat types and restored degraded ecosystems, safeguarded numerous species from extinction, ensured the recovery of many local and endemic species, supported practical measures on the ground to prevent, control and eradicate invasive alien species. An example is the LIFE project ‘Mobile Marine Species’, which aims to improve the conservation of four marine populations: 5 elasmobranchs, 4 marine mammals, 12 seabirds and 2 sea turtles and their representative species. These populations face similar threats that can only be effectively addressed jointly. The project aims to restore, or create 630 favourable nesting sites, and restore 200 ha of mudflats. It aims at protecting breeding population of seabirds from predation by non-native species. It aims as reducing the pressure of disturbance and reducing species mortality due to fishing gear. The project is supported by administrations, professionals, non-governmental organisations and scientists and involves 152 professional organisations and municipalities. |
SDG15 Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss | The LIFE programme plays a crucial role in helping Member States to achieve various targets of the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030. There are already numerous projects in place to assist in the recovery of highly threatened species and the restoration of thousands of hectares of degraded habitats. LIFE projects are also helping to identify ‘high nature value’ areas that are not yet protected, and ecological corridors needed to ensure connectivity between Natura 2000 sites, and to establish a consolidated trans-European nature network by 2030. Finally, the LIFE programme is delivering hundreds of kilometres of free-flowing rivers, planting hundreds of thousands of trees, working with stakeholders, building partnerships and increasing public awareness of the indispensable services that nature provides. An example is the Dinara back to LIFE, which aims to protect and restore dry grassland habitats and their characteristic species in Natura 2000 network sites in the Dinara mountains of Croatia. It connects nature conservation with socioeconomic development, and includes relevant stakeholders in planning for long-term grassland management. As expected results, the conservation status of target habitat types and species will become more favourable, technical guidelines for dry grassland restoration practices and sustainable management, and their implementation will be developed, positive impacts of controlled burning on dry grasslands will be demonstrated and generally the awareness will be raised for EU policy for nature protection and on biodiversity loss issues. Another example is the LIFE on Machair project, which aims at improving the conservation condition of Ireland’s ‘Machairs’ habitat and the ecological conditions for breeding waders and pollinators within project sites. The project will employ an integrated management approach; provide education, guidance, and informed management policies for stakeholders, and deliver concrete conservation actions within a network of machair and wader Natura 2000 sites. |
SDG16 Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels | LIFE projects have increased the capacity of an EU network of environmental prosecutors to share information and develop best practice to tackle environmental crime. They have developed strategic partnerships and shared information relating to environmental prosecutions throughout the EU and the rest of the world. |