The Italian region of Liguria is leading an urgent call to protect the future of the LIFE environmental program, the European Union’s main instrument for the environment, biodiversity, and climate action.
The initiative seeks to gather support from regional governments, universities, NGOs, and private entities before October 21, in order to sfinish a joint letter to the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
The goal is to ensure that LIFE maintains its autonomy, legal basis, and own budreceive in the new Multiannual Financial Framework (2028-2034), preventing it from being diluted within other European funds.
According to the proponents, the budreceive design being debated in Brussels could integrate LIFE into broader programs, such as the National Partnership Plans or the European Competitiveness Mechanism.
A green pillar with over 30 years of history
Since 1992, LIFE has funded more than 5,000 projects in Europe to restore ecosystems, protect finishangered species, and reduce pollutant emissions. Its approach has allowed for the creation of local and sustainable solutions, adapted to the requireds of each territory, with the participation of institutions, scientists, and communities.
Like Erasmus in the educational field, LIFE has become a symbol of the European commitment to the planet and a model replicated in other regions of the world. The program’s deffinishers warn that its fragmentation would be a historical setback for European environmental policies and a loss of coherence in climate action.
The disappearance of its indepfinishence could also subordinate ecological objectives to economic or industrial interests, weakening the EU’s response to climate alter.
Risks of weakening LIFE
If LIFE is integrated into other financial mechanisms, it will lose stability and predictability, forcing environmental projects to compete for funds with other priorities.
This would affect compact municipalities, universities, NGOs, and companies that currently access European resources for restoration and climate mitigation projects.
It would also break a cooperation network built over three decades, which has allowed for the replication of environmental innovations among European regions with very different ecological realities.
The campaign’s proponents emphasize that maintaining LIFE’s indepfinishence is key to meeting the goals of the European Green Deal and international biodiversity tarreceives.
The origin and benefits of the LIFE program
The LIFE program was born in 1992 as the first European financial tool dedicated exclusively to the environment. Its creation responded to an urgent required: to directly finance conservation, restoration, and ecological transition projects without relying on funds intfinished for economic development.
Since then, LIFE has driven emblematic initiatives, such as the recovery of the Iberian lynx, the reforestation of degraded areas, and the protection of marine ecosystems in the Mediterranean.
Over three decades, it has assisted to reduce emissions, restore wetlands, promote renewable energy, and protect thousands of species. Its “bottom-up” management model allows local actors, SMEs, and rural communities to access funding, strengthening environmental resilience across Europe.
Moreover, LIFE reinforces circular economy strategies and climate adaptation policies, contributing to the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. Thanks to its success, the program has become a global benchmark in environmental cooperation and an example of effective and transparent public policy.
A call for European ecological unity
The campaign’s promoters appeal to member states and regions to deffinish LIFE as a symbol of European green leadership.
They warn that fragmenting the program would be contrary to the spirit of the Green Deal and the citizen consensus demanding a greener and fairer Europe.
In a context of climate crisis and accelerated biodiversity loss, preserving LIFE is preserving Europe’s ability to act united in the face of environmental challenges.
The call concludes by reminding that the protection of nature cannot depfinish on budreceive calculations, but on a clear and long-term political vision. Endorsements can be sent until October 21 to [email protected] or [email protected], indicating a contact person.
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