This program finances environmental projects, as well as mitigation and adaptation to climate change. It is still necessary to define the final budget, although the European Commission's request is for 5540 million euros for the period 2021-2027. Despite the European Union is making progress in its policies to reduce CO2 emissions.
By José Díaz
Servindi, December 24th, 2018.- After its last coordination meeting in 2018, the Environment Ministers of the European Union (EU) agreed to extend the LIFE community environmental program beyond 2020. At this stage, the program will focus on investing in environmental projects, as well as projects of mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
The final decision of the environmental representatives of the European countries was that 60% of the LIFE fund should be addressed to actions to protect nature and biodiversity. Support for a circular economy and the energy transition will be two other important items on the LIFE agenda from 2020. Recall that the EU has decided to accelerate its energy transition towards renewable sources by 2030.
At the moment, no final consensus has been reached about the budget that LIFE will have. From Brussels, the European Commission has proposed to give 5540 million euros for the period 2021-2027, which would be an increase of 0.4% compared to the previous budget. During 2019, the EU's long-term budget will be discussed and defined, this is where they hope to close this discussion in relation to LIFE program.
LIFE is a program created by the EU in 1992 with the goal of managing environmental conservation projects and the development of environmental policies. LIFE finances community projects that aim to protect nature and sustainable development. Among its most important contributions is the financing of actions for the protection of animals and plants within the Natura 2000.
More decisions
But the continuity of LIFE was not the only environmental issue discussed by the environment ministers in Brussels. These officials also approved the Community decision to reduce CO2 emissions from their trucks to 30% less by 2030 compared to the values of 2019. This will also imply an intermediate step of 15% reduction by 2025.
The decision of the ministers comes up after the proposal of the European Parliament that for the same vehicles had requested a reduction of 35% in the same period. Anyway, the forecast of the EU is to save 54 million tons of CO2 between 2020 and 2030. The latter as part of the continental struggle they have initiated against emissions after the signing of the Paris Agreement.
Regarding new vehicles, the decision is that they reduce their emissions by 37.5% by 2030. All the decisions executed by the ministers in Brussels are obligatory for the national governments that make up the EU. This will be adopted despite the claim of countries such as Hungary and the Czech Republic, because it had the support of France, Germany, Denmark, Portugal, and Sweden. Although there is no unanimity, the EU continues to make progress in its environmental policies.
It may interest you
#MedioAmbiente: La Unión Europea acordó plazo para retirar los plásticos de un solo uso del continente → https://t.co/ynsdLahjJD pic.twitter.com/10kf2bsSPg
— Servindi (@Servindi) 20 de diciembre de 2018
Añadir nuevo comentario