Ukraine submits 40 applications to participate in EU LIFE environmental grant program

Scientific institutions and governmental and non-governmental Ukrainian organizations submitted 40 applications for participation in the EU LIFE grant program with a budget of more than 5 billion euros.

The Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Ruslan Strelets, said this in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

The minister emphasized that for the first time in the thirty-year history of the LIFE program, a country that is not a full-fledged member of the EU has received the right to participate.

"As of today, more than 40 applications have been submitted from Ukraine to participate in the competition of the EU LIFE program. But the competition program continues until November 16.

Therefore, I hope there will be more of them," the official said.

The minister noted that the Ministry of Natural Resources initially expected that 15 applications would be submitted from Ukraine.

They note that applications for projects tackle the following:

• environmental monitoring systems,
• revitalization of water bodies of Ukraine,
• construction of hydraulic structures,
• digitization of administrative services in ecological protection.

The call for applications will take place in the spring of 2023, but the application deadline for the program is November 16.

We remind you that according to the Operational Headquarters for russian eco crimes documentation, damages to the environment of Ukraine amount to more than 1.35 trillion hryvnias.

Three million hectares of forests have already been affected, which is almost a third of the forest fund of our state. Some of them are lost forever. About a third of the territory of Ukraine will require demining, which will take at least ten years.

As a result of the terrorist country's actions, dangerous substances enter the air every day due to forest fires, the burning of oil products, and the burning of industrial facilities.

Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the number of such emissions has exceeded 67 million tons, against 2.2 million tons in 2021 and 2020.