Green funds and sustainable purchasing – innovative
What is the green fund?
Announced in the summer of 2022 and effective since January 2023, the green fund is a groundbreaking mechanism to accelerate the ecological transition in the territories. It is intended to finance projects presented by local authorities and their public or private partners in three areas: environmental performance, adaptation of the territory to climate change, and improvement of the living environment.
To support the mobilization of local authorities, the Government has decided to maintain the green fund until 2027 to help address the challenges of ecological planning. In 2023, the green fund has already provided financial support to more than 7,000 project holders concerning nearly 6,000 municipalities in mainland France and overseas, for projects representing expenditures of 10 billion euros and a commitment of 2 billion euros from the green fund.
Benefits and Criteria
The Green Fund is structured around three major action areas and a cross-cutting measure to promote ecological transition:
1. Strengthening Environmental Performance:
Energy Renovation of Local Public Buildings: This measure aims to reduce energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and dependence on fossil fuels of public buildings, thereby contributing to energy efficiency and the resilience of territories.
Support for Source Separation and Recovery of Organic Waste: By encouraging selective sorting and recycling of organic waste, this measure reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills while promoting more sustainable resource management.
Renovation of Public Lighting Fixtures: This initiative aims to modernize public lighting by opting for more energy-efficient solutions, thus contributing to the reduction of electricity consumption and CO2 emissions.
2. Adapting Territories to Climate Change:
Supporting land use planning in response to coastal retreat.
Strengthening flood prevention measures, risks in mountainous areas, cyclonic events in overseas territories, forest fires, etc.
Renaturing cities and villages to preserve their livability.
3. Improving Quality of Life:
Deployment of low-emission zones to improve air quality.
Development of carpooling and sustainable mobility options in rural areas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Support for the redevelopment of brownfields to limit space consumption and land artificialization.
Accelerating ecological transition in the reindustrialization of territories.
Engineering Support:
Support for local authorities by competent professionals for the implementation of ecological transition projects, with financial support from the State.
These measures aim to encourage local authorities to become exemplary actors in ecological transition by providing them with the resources and expertise necessary to successfully carry out their projects. Here are some examples of projects funded in 2023:
A collective self-consumption study.
Support for developing a decision-making tool for the renaturation of territories.
New requests can be submitted, in addition to other funding sources (DETR, DSIL), on the Aides-Territoires platform.
Sustainable Purchasing – Innovative
Innovative sustainable purchasing refers to the acquisition of goods, services or works by public entities, focusing on innovation while facilitating access for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to public contracts. This approach aims to simplify procedures for purchases related to innovative works, supplies or services worth less than 100,000 euros, exempting from prior advertising and competition.
In the context of innovative sustainable purchasing, several aspects need to be considered. First, it involves an innovative approach and simplification of usual procedures, thus allowing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) easier access to public markets, exempting from prior advertising and competition. This approach aligns with European objectives, where the development of innovative public markets is seen as an important lever for economic growth.
