Call: Integrated projects under the sub-programme for Climate Action

The LIFE programme is the EU’s funding instrument for the environment and climate action. The general objective of LIFE is to contribute to the implementation, updating and development of EU environmental and climate policy and legislation by co-financing projects with European added value.

The LIFE Programme shall in particular have the following general objectives:

• to contribute to the shift towards a resource-efficient, lowcarbon and climate- resilient economy, to the protection and improvement of the quality of the environment and to halting and reversing biodiversity loss, including the support of the Natura 2000 network and tackling the degradation of ecosystems;
• to improve the development, implementation and enforcement of Union environmental and climate policy and legislation, and to act as a catalyst for, and promote, the integration and mainstreaming of environmental and climate objectives into other Union policies and public and private sector practice, including by increasing the public and private sector's capacity;
• to support better environmental and climate governance at all levels, including better involvement of civil society, NGOs and local actors;
• to support the implementation of the 7th Environment Action Programme.

LIFE Climate Action is one of the two sub-programmes of the European Union's main funding programme for the environment. It supports both climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation projects. Mitigation projects contribute to substantially reducing Europe's greenhouse gas emissions; adaptation projects address the inevitable impacts of climate change. This part of LIFE co-finances projects that help develop and demonstrate the most effective technologies, tools and methodologies that can be taken to meet EU's policy targets on climate change.

The sub-programme for Climate Action shall have three priority areas:

• Climate Change Mitigation;
• Climate Change Adaptation;
• Climate Governance and Information.

It is encouraged, where relevant, for projects to contribute to more than one of those priority areas and to involve the participation of more than one Member State. Synergies with other environmental and climate policies should be a central theme of adaptation projects.

Integrated projects (IP) under the sub-programme for Climate Action are projects implementing on a large territorial scale (regional, multi-regional, national or trans-national scale) climate action plans, strategies or roadmaps required by specific Union climate legislation, developed pursuant to other Union acts or developed by Member States' authorities, primarily in the areas of climate change mitigation and adaptation, while ensuring involvement of stakeholders and promoting the coordination with and mobilisation of at least one other relevant Union, national or private funding source.

Entities participating in the proposal may fall under one of the following three categories: (1) public bodies, (2) private commercial organisations and (3) private non-commercial organisations (including NGOs).

An Integrated Project proposal has to include one or more associated beneficiaries in order to be eligible. An associated beneficiary may be legally registered outside the EU, provided that the coordinating beneficiary is based within the EU. Priority will be given to transnational projects.

Applications will be submitted in two stages:

• Stage 1: Concept note of 10 pages (Deadline: 06.10.2020)

Shortlisted applicants will be notified and invited to submit full proposals in March 2021.
There is no pre-determined project duration for a LIFE Integrated Project. However, considering the project's direct link with long term plans and strategies most Integrated Projects are expected to last between 5 and 10 years.

It is foreseen that the LIFE programme would contribute – on average – 10 Mio. € to each IP (i.e. the total project budget could be around 17 million €).
EU co-funding rate: max. 60%

For detailed information on LIFE national contact points, please follow this link.