Germany and Lithuania want to intensify their cooperation in the field of climate action. Today, BMUB State Secretary Gunther Adler and his Lithuanian colleague Daiva Matoniené signed an agreement between their two environment ministries in this direction in Berlin. The agreement is to further deepen the cooperation in environmental protection that was initiated in 1993 and to facilitate lighthouse projects in the field of climate action in Lithuania. Mr Adler called the agreement the "basis for the implementation of investment projects to reduce CO2 emissions".
Thanks to this new agreement, climate pilot projects in Lithuania, too, will be entitled to apply for funding from the "Environmental Innovation Programme for Projects Abroad". The Federal Environment Ministry funds climate projects via this programme which allow for immediate cross border environmental effects or which focus on climate action measures which can serve as a lighthouse. The programme also funds support for environmental technology transfer in this context.
State Secretary Adler said: "Business often hesitates to make environmentally friendly investments because they are associated in the short term with higher costs than those of conventional technologies. We want to financially support the pioneers so that their initiatives become lighthouse projects, encouraging others to follow suit".