Discover the keys to the new LIFE call for proposals

Climate change, energy and circular economy; these are some of the prominent themes of the new call for the EU’s “green” LIFE programme for 2021-2027. At ZABALA Innovation, we have gathered some of the most important key issues in this article.

• The aim of the programme is to finance environmental projects. It also has a specific sub-programme for the financing of demonstration projects related to climate change.
• Project funding is up to 60% of the budget, although in specific cases, within the Nature and Biodiversity sub-programme, the amount can reach 75%.
• It includes a new sub-programme focused on Energy (Clean Energy Transition sub-programme), which covers cross-cutting aspects (policies, communication, participation) and may involve grants of up to 95%.
• The circular economy is more relevant than ever to facilitate the transition towards a sustainable, circular, toxic-free, energy-efficient and climate-resilient economy.
• Projects close to the market that lead to the commercialisation of new products or services are funded. For eco-innovative business projects, LIFE provides the opportunity to secure funding between the stages of product development and commercialisation.
• Since 2020, the focus on “close to market” projects has been broadened, welcoming innovative projects carried out by start-ups, provided they have the backing and collaboration of other larger companies to ensure replication.
• Unlike other European programmes, LIFE does not require the constitution of a multinational consortium or a minimum number of partners, and can be implemented by a local, regional or national consortium as long as it can be demonstrated that the impact of the project can be applied beyond our borders.
• The depreciation of equipment can be up to 100%, if after the conclusion of the project it is still used for the same purpose. In addition, private entities are not obliged to launch public tenders for actions above €135,000.
• In the new programme, the 2% rule, whereby the contribution from public entities had to exceed the cost of the staff involved in the projects by at least 2%, is eliminated.
• The call includes mechanisms to simplify the submission of applications. For example, for traditional projects, the application process consists of a single stage, whereas up till now, it had two stages. In addition, eProposal will no longer be used to prepare proposals, but the Commission’s Funding and Tenders Portal will be used instead.

If you have a project related to the environment, at ZABALA Innovation can help you!