20 May LIFE LAUNCHES 2016 CALL FOR ACTION GRANTS

The LIFE programme launched two calls for proposals, underlining its commitment to supporting projects that protect the environment and tackle the impact of climate change.
The 2016 call for action grants for the LIFE programme was launched yesterday and covers proposals for both environment and climate action sub-programmes. The total budget for project action grants for this call is €337 536 184. Of this amount, €273 936 184 has been allocated to the sub-programme for environment and €63 600 000 has been allocated to the sub-programme for climate action. At least 55% of the environment allocation will be dedicated to projects supporting the conservation of nature and biodiversity.
Innovations in the 2016 call concern Traditional LIFE projects. These include more emphasis on sustainability and replicability and more attention to second phase projects and the relation with other projects financed by LIFE.
For LIFE Nature and Biodiversity projects there is more emphasis on EU added value in terms of quantifiable environmental impact/conservation benefits. LIFE Environment and Resource Efficiency and LIFE Environmental Governance and Information projects will place more emphasis on EU added value in terms of quantifiable environmental impact, including the mandatory submission of the LIFE performance indicators table.
There are new policy priorities for Traditional projects under the sub-programme for climate action. For Climate Change Mitigation, projects related to energy-intensive industries, fluorinated greenhouse gases and land-use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) are encouraged in particular. For Climate Change Adaptation, priorities include cross-border management of floods; transboundary coastal management; mainstreaming adaptation into urban land use planning, building layouts and natural resources management; mountain and island areas; and sustainable management of water. LIFE Climate Governance and Information projects are encouraged to focus on capacity-building (e.g. training the trainers), rather than pure awareness-raising.
More info on call 2016 web page