News Archive
LIFE programme: over €280 million in EU funding for environment, nature and climate action projects
16 Nov 2020The European Commission has approved an investment package of more than €280 million from the EU budget for over 120 new LIFE programme projects. This EU funding will trigger total investments of nearly €590 million to help meet these projects' ambitious goals for environment, nature, and climate action. This amount represents a 37% rise compared to last year.
Climate-ADAPT Adaptation Support Tool – new version launched
13 Nov 2020The recently updated Adaptation Support Tool (AST) provides a sound overview and guidance in assisting policy makers and coordinators in the EU Member States, EEA member countries and others on how to develop, further improve and increase the coherence of National Adaptation Strategies (NASs) and National Action Plans (NAPs). A webinar will be held on 18 November 2020 to learn more about the practical experience and use for policy, planning and decision making.
Latvia integrates climate change policy into sectoral and regional policies
04 Nov 2020Latvia Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (VARAM) has started the implementation of the project 'Integration of climate change policy in sectoral and regional policies' in the framework of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism Programme 2014-2021. The project aims to improve the integration of climate issues into sectoral and regional policies and activities, and to develop new climate change policy planning tools.
Vegetation response to water deficit in Europe
31 Oct 2020Monitoring vegetation response to water deficit due to droughts is necessary to be able to introduce effective measures to increase the resilience of ecosystems in line with the EU’s nature restoration plan. Between 2000 and 2016, Europe was affected by severe droughts, causing average yearly vegetation productivity losses covering around 121,000 km2.
Forest fires threaten Europe’s nature as world suffers worst year on record
30 Oct 2020In what was possibly the worst-ever year for forest fires around the world, the European Commissions Annual Report on Forest Fires in Europe 2019 shows that over 400,000 hectares of Europe’s natural land was burnt and an unusually high number of nature protection areas were affected by wildfires.
EU reveals exceptional nature, environment and climate action projects
22 Oct 2020The EU’s LIFE programme has announced the winners of the 2020 LIFE Awards. The LIFE Award for Climate Action goes to the Hungarian project FIRELIFE, which focuses on providing information to teachers, social workers, farmers, and forest fire prevention experts to enhance forest fire prevention across the country.
Climate change undermines the safety of buildings and infrastructure in Europe
14 Oct 2020Higher temperatures will accelerate corrosion of buildings, and will expose infrastructure to higher stresses, thus undermining the safety of constructions. Researchers of the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change and members of the scientific network established by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, co-authored two studies, suggesting a review of the EU standards for structural design.
The Netherlands in 2120, a vision to adapt to climate change
14 Oct 2020Wageningen University & Research has drafted a vision on what it believes a climate-proof Netherlands could look like in 2120. Green cities, circular agriculture, and more forests, water and swamps are feasible in 100 year from now. Similar vision building will be used for European purposes as well in the future.
When floods strike, the EU LIFE programme is there to help
12 Oct 2020In Europe, floods are on the rise due to climate change. These extreme weather events often result in human tragedy, loss of life and economic losses. The environment also suffers with wildlife habitats being destroyed and water bodies being polluted. Several LIFE projects are working hard to alleviate the situation.
Europe urgently needs to step up adaptation to climate change impacts
12 Oct 2020Despite the increasing awareness of climate change impacts and the need to adapt, many of Europe’s cities and towns are struggling to handle the impacts of heatwaves, severe droughts and destructive floods. Two new European Environment Agency (EEA) reports stress the urgent need for action to improve adaptation and resilience at local and national government levels.