LIFE: driving innovation, autonomy and resilience for a competitive Europe

The latest LIFE publication, LIFE and the EU's Competitiveness Agenda: Fostering innovation, strategic autonomy, and resilience for sustainable growth, showcases projects from across Europe that demonstrate how environmental and climate action can drive economic value. From circular economy solutions in Finland to zero-emission mobility in Italy, these projects illustrate how LIFE helps bring innovations to market and scale them up.

By bridging the gap between research and deployment, LIFE enables the uptake of clean technologies, strengthens value chains and supports the creation of new market opportunities - helping to turn sustainability into a competitive advantage for Europe.

Supporting the EU Competitiveness Compass

With a budget of €5.4 billion for 2021-2027 and over €4 billion mobilised since 2014, the LIFE Programme acts as a catalyst for investment and deployment, mobilising both public and private financing. It supports the objectives of the EU's Competitiveness Compass by helping close the gap between innovation and market uptake, accelerating decarbonisation and reducing strategic dependencies.

Innovation, strategic autonomy and enhanced resilience

LIFE drives innovation by supporting the deployment and scale-up of market-ready solutions, especially regarding circular economy, clean technologies and sustainable business models.

For example, DeliverEEM is scaling up energy-efficient mortgage markets across Europe and mobilising private investment for building renovation, while PlastLIFE is advancing circular plastics solutions and reducing dependence on fossil-based materials.

LIFE also strengthens strategic autonomy by reducing reliance on imported energy and raw materials, while supporting European industrial capacity and circular value chains. This is seen through projects such as EXQUISHEAT, which promotes industrial heat pump solutions to reduce fossil fuel dependence, and LIFE-SYNFLUOR, which transforms industrial waste into critical raw materials, helping secure EU supply chains.

LIFE enhances resilience by supporting climate adaptation, resource security and sustainable ecosystems, which underpin long-term economic stability. For example, LIFE TreeCheck strengthens urban climate resilience through green infrastructure, while LIFE Olivares Vivos + demonstrates how biodiversity can improve agricultural productivity and competitiveness.

Together, these projects show how LIFE turns environmental ambition into economic opportunity - supporting innovation, strengthening Europe's autonomy by reducing dependencies and building resilience, including through more efficient use of resources and circular solutions across key sectors of the economy.

Click herefor more information and to download a copy of LIFE and the EU's Competitiveness Agenda: Fostering innovation, strategic autonomy, and resilience for sustainable growth, which is launched on 6 May 2026.