With the
minister of environmental protection and green transition, Marija Vučković, and
state secretary Anja Bagarić, the director of the Environmental Protection and
Energy Efficiency Fund, Luka Balen, handed over contracts to nongovernmental organisations
(associations) for the co-financing of projects in the field of environmental
protection and energy efficiency.
The projects cover a wide range of important topics: from waste prevention and promotion of reuse, through eco-drives for cleaning the seabed and speleological objects, to raising awareness of climate change, protection of biological and landscape diversity. Of those, 40 projects deal with environmental protection and were granted close to 360 thousand for their implementation, while 40 thousand euros have been provided for 5 projects focused on energy efficiency.
The director of the Fund, Luka Balen, pointed out that the Fund has had a long cooperation with associations and has been co-financing their projects for years. "So far, the Fund has provided 3.7 million euros for 321 projects. Each proposed initiative contributes to a common goal – preserving the environment as the foundation of a healthy and sustainable society. The financing will continue this year as well. We are just closing the public consultation for a call for proposals, which we expect to be published in June, and for which we not only increased the allocated funding from 400 thousand to one million euros, we have also doubled the grant amount for co-financing individual projects, which will now be up to a maximum of 20,000 euros," announced Balen.
"We are providing strong support to civil society organizations that work tirelessly to preserve the environment and promote energy efficiency. Last year, in cooperation with the Fund, we announced yet another in a series of calls for proposals aimed at associations, providing 400,000 euros in financial support for their projects. I must point out that the work of the associations has been very much recognised and I’ d like thank everyone for their worthy contribution. I’m also glad m glad that we will significantly increase the funds, meaning that for the next call for proposals, we’ll provide as much as one million euros,” said minister Vučković in her address.
With this investment in citizens' initiatives, the goal is to not only empower local communities, but also to encourage concrete steps towards a greener and more sustainable future.
