The European Commission has approved funding for 183 new projects under the LIFE+ programme, the European Union's environment fund. The projects involve all EU Member States and cover actions in the fields of nature conservation, climate change, clean technology, environmental policy and information and communication on environmental issues. Overall, they represent a total investment of some €530 million, of which the EU will provide €244 million.

The automotive industry will have a greater incentive to invest in new technologies that reduce CO2 emissions from new cars, under legislation adopted by the European Commission on 25 July 2011.

The Regulation enables motor manufacturers to receive CO2emission credits if they fit new cars with approved "eco-innovations" which reduce emissions. The credits will help the industry meet the European target of limiting CO2 emissions from new cars to an average of 130 grams/km by 2015. Eco-innovations will count for up to 7 g CO2/km towards the target.

Under the Regulation, a technology can qualify as an eco-innovation if it is new to the market, contributes to significant CO2 savings and is not otherwise taken into account in determining the level of CO2 emissions from vehicles. The technology should also aim at improving vehicle propulsion or the energy consumption of devices that are mandatory, without compromising vehicle safety. This means, for instance, that solar panels converting sunlight into electric energy could potentially qualify as an eco-innovation but an energy-efficient in-car music system would not.