EU grants 244m euros funding for environmental projects

The European Commission has announced it will plough €244 million (£215 million) of funding into several projects aimed at raising awareness of environmental legislation among other things.

In total, 183 new schemes involving all EU member states have been awarded money under the terms of the continent’s LIFE+ programme.

The commission received 748 applications leading up to September 2010 and this has now been whittled down.

Each initiative involves ways to deal with climate change, nature conservation, clean technology, information on eco issues and environmental policy.

The total investment going into the projects will stand at €530 million.

Environment commissioner Janez Potocnik said the initiatives would help raise awareness of the challenges facing the environment "such as decoupling growth from resource use".

As part of the LIFE+ scheme, the UK will receive financial support totalling €17 million for its five projects, while Italy appears to be the leading force, as it will claw in €109.3 million for its 48 ideas.

Posted by Lauren Steadman