Strategic issues - European union

The program sets out a framework to support the achievement of these objectives through, inter alia, better implementation of EU environment law, state of the art science, securing the necessary investments in support of environment and climate change policy, and improving the way environmental concerns and requirements are reflected in other policies. The program also aims to boost efforts to help EU cities to become more sustainable, and improve the EU'S capacity to meet regional and global environment and climate challenges. The most significant part of the new LIFE instrument will provide funding for EU organizations (mainly through grants for projects) pursuing environment and climate action objectives in the Member States. One innovation is that funding can now also be channeled through financial institutions to provide loans or guarantees for banks lending directly to projects; another is the possibility of providing capacity building to national and regional contact points to improve the performance of Member States in the program.