LIFE is short for “L’Instrument Financier pour l’Environnement” and is the only EU funding programme that exclusively supports projects in the areas of environmental, climate and nature protection as well as the energy transition.
The programme is being continued in the new funding period 2021-2027 and is being given more financial resources. The total funding amounts to €5.432 billion. Moreover, not only public institutions are eligible to apply for funds, but also, for example, private business, associations and research bodies.
The general goal of the LIFE programme is “to make a contribution to the transition to a sustainable, circular, energy-efficient, climate-neutral and climate-resistant economy based on renewable energy, to restore, protect and improve the quality of the environment, including air, water and soil, to curb and reverse the loss of biodiversity and to tackle the degradation of ecosystems – including with the support of the Natura 2000 network – and thus to contribute to sustainable development.” In all of this, the LIFE programme focuses on specific and practical projects.
The LIFE programme consists of four sub-programmes:
- Nature protection and biodiversity
- Circular economy and quality of life
- Climate protection and climate change adaptation
- Energy transition
Further general information about these sub-programmes as well as the annual invitations to apply for funding can be found on the website of ZUG (www.z-u-g.org), a federal entity which is the national point of contact for the LIFE programme for various federal ministries. If you have questions regarding potential project applications within the Federal State of Berlin, you can also contact the Unit for EU and International Affairs, which is the regional point of contact for the LIFE programme.