North Macedonia's association to the LIFE programme opens the door to a closer cooperation to address climate change and environmental challenges. By joining the LIFE programme in 2023, North Macedonia will have the opportunity to benefit from LIFE’s support for mobilising public and private resources for climate action, biodiversity protection, circular economy and clean energy transition.
The Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius and the Minister of Environment and Physical Planning of the Republic of North Macedonia, Kaja Sukova, jointly signed an agreement on North Macedonia’s accession to the LIFE programmeLIFE programme for environment and climate. North Macedonia is the fourth non-EU country to join the programme after Iceland, Ukraine and Moldova.
Launched in 1992, the LIFE Programme supports the implementation of projects focusing on environmental and climate protection. It is only from the new LIFE Programme 2021-2027 that non-European countries are allowed to join the program through bilaterally negotiated association agreements.
Overall, for the period 2021-27 the programme can count on 5.45 billion euros, around 2 billion euros more than in the previous programming period. As in the previous period, the division of the LIFE programme into sectors and sub-programmes remains:
- Environment Sector, which includes the sub-programmes: Nature and Biodiversity; Circular Economy and Quality of Life.
- Climate Action Sector, comprising the sub-programmes: Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation; Clean Energy Transition.
It has co-financed around 6000 projects across the EU and beyond. Projects that aim to:
- Develop and demonstrate eco-innovative techniques and approaches.
- Promote best practices and behavioural changes.
- Support the development, monitoring and enforcement of laws similar to the ones in EU as well as plans and strategies that can contribute to implement these laws
- Catalyse the large-scale deployment of successful solutions
“Closer cooperation will benefit citizens, businesses, and civil society in North Macedonia, and contribute to a greener, more sustainable continent in line with the European Green Deal objectives,” states Commissioner Sinkevičius.
Public and private organisations from North Macedonia will be able to receive financial support for projects on environment and climate action, e.g., to pursue energy efficiency, clean polluted areas, improve the management of water resources, and step up the protection of biodiversity in harmony with a circular and net-zero emission economy.
