Call for Proposals for Environment Governance

Deadline: 30-Nov-21

The European Commission (EC) is pleased to launch a call for proposals for the Environment governance to facilitate the transition toward a sustainable, circular, toxic-free, energy-efficient/climate-resilient economy and toward a toxic-free environment as well as to protect, restore and improve the quality of the environment.

• Activities in support of public administrations’ decision-making and voluntary approaches:
  • Improving the capacity of public administration to implement a holistic vision of the environment, including managing, monitoring, assessing environmental plans, programmes and initiatives, by involving responsible authorities, also through institutional collaboration at different territorial level and/or where appropriate in partnership with private entities, with a view to develop synergies, to reduce administrative burden and/or to optimise environmental outcomes.
  • Development, promotion, implementation and/or harmonisation of one or more of the following voluntary instruments and approaches and their use by entities aiming at reducing the environmental impact of their activities, products and services:
    • Third-party verification of the performance of innovative technologies when they are ready for the market such as Environmental Technology Verification (ETV);
    • Product environmental footprint category rules (PEFCR) and/or organisation environmental footprint sectoral rules (OEFSR) at European level for products and sectors not yet covered by the existing PEFCRs/OEFSRs and related high-quality data bases, based on the latest available version of the European environmental footprint methods and the latest available guidance;
    • The EU Ecolabel, for the promotion of products (goods and services) with excellent environmental performance, in all sectors concerned and in particular in tourism and finance, and as a tool to promote sustainable consumption patterns and lifestyles. In a broader perspective, fostering the use of officially recognised ecolabel;
    • Actions, services, networks and innovative business models for fostering the use of reused, repaired, refurbished, remanufactured also linked to product durability and planned obsolescence; Development of indicators linked to product policy.
    • Green and Circular Public Procurement: common tender specifications and/or uptake monitoring tools for public authorities with similar purchasing needs, in order to foster uptake. The option of making public procurement green compulsory should be considered;
    • Linking regulatory, financial or reputational incentives to environmental performance by using EMAS;
    • Assessment and reporting of the sustainability performance of buildings, using Level(s), the building framework with core indicators.
• Environmental compliance assurance and access to justice: Supporting environmental compliance assurance by:
  • establishing new or, where in place, enhancing existing cross-border, national or regional networks of environmental compliance assurance practitioners or experts; and/or establishing or, where in place, improving professional qualifications and training58 to improve compliance with binding EU environmental instruments (other than on nature and biodiversity), through promoting, checking and enforcing compliance, and applying the polluter pays principle, using a mix of administrative law, criminal law and environmental liability; and/or
  • by developing and implementing strategies and policies and/or developing and using innovative tools and actions to promote, monitor and enforce compliance with binding EU environmental instruments (other than on nature and biodiversity), and ensure application of the polluter pays principles through environmental liability; and/or engaging with citizens and others to promote and monitor compliance, and ensure application of environmental liability
• Behavioral change and awareness-raising initiatives: The environmental problems, EU environmental policies, tools and/or legislation targeted should be directly linked to one or more of the priorities included in:
  • The European Green Deal to raise awareness on the environmental impacts to underpin the transformative changes towards more sustainable food, energy, mobility and building systems and to mainstream environmental considerations across policies and activities in line with the EGD oath to do no harm;
  • The Circular Economy Action Plan to ensure waste prevention and reduction, sustainable production, sustainable products, services and business models, sustainable consumption and transformation of consumption patterns in particular in the sectors that use most resources and pose higher sustainability challenges, namely textiles, chemicals (including plastics), construction and buildings, electronics and ICT, batteries and vehicles;
  • The Zero Pollution Action Plan addressing the protection of citizens from environmental pressures and risks to health as a result of Europe’s zeropollution ambition and measures for a toxic-free environment including, in particular, sustainability in the use and management of chemicals and promoting clean air.

• public bodies (entities established as public body under national law, including local, regional or national authorities) or international organisations
• if the project requested grant amount is not more than EUR 60 000.

• be legal entities (public or private bodies)
• be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
  • EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs)
  • non-EU countries: listed EEA countries and countries associated to the LIFE Programme (participating countries) or countries which are in ongoing negotiations for an association agreement and where the agreement enters into force before grant signature
• the coordinator must be established in an eligible country.

For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3kp1xkb