BOURGOGNE-FRANCHE-COMTÉ: The Green Fund finances community ecological transition projects
In Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, 72 million euros are available in 2023. “Even if a small community comes up with a project, as long as it has real ambition, we will fund it,” prefect Frank Robin said this Tuesday. January 31.
The Green Fund window is now open. With 2 billion euros from the state and 1.2 billion euros from the Banque des Territoires, the fund aims to “accelerate the ecological transition” of local communities.
According to the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Union, “clear goals have been set at the national level”: carbon neutrality and net zero artificialization of land by 2050, creation of low emission zones (ZFE), 10% “strong conservation” natural spaces, renaturation of cities, energy renovation of buildings, reduction of energy consumption and prevention of natural risks such as fire or flood.
This Tuesday, January 31, 2023, Franck Robin, prefect of the Bourgogne-Franche-Côte region, Sébastien Martin (NF), president of the Intermunicipal Council of France, and Ludovic Rochette (HO) d’Or, president of the Cote-Municipal Mayors’ Association, discussed the regional challenges of the new system presented.
Touch the “entire territory” of Bourgogne-Franche-Comte
“This fund is intended to support local authorities in their efforts for an ecological transition,” indicates the prefect, who immediately notes and wishes for “the mobilization of the entire state apparatus in the Bourgogne-Franche-Côte region.”[la mobilisation] of all local communities.
In 2023, 72 million euros are available in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The envelope will be distributed among departments according to demographics and fragility index.
The aim is to reach “the whole regional area”: ”even if a small community comes with a project, when it has real ambition, we will finance it”.
This Green Fund should enable local authorities to benefit from other funding sources. leverage effect is expected for in the endenables the completion of works with a total cost of more than 200 million euros.
It should be noted that the regional guideline, together with the Burgundy-Franche-Comté regional council, will specifically address secondary school energy renewal projects.
Performance criteria
Thus, works can be related to the energy renovation of schools, sports facilities, municipal houses, provided that this reduces energy consumption by at least 40%.
Another example is that, while only 10% of light points in France are currently equipped with LED lamps, it is about “accelerating” the replacement with lamps that “bring energy savings to communities”.
In this regard, if they choose such a project, local authorities must commit to replacing at least 20% of their lighting points to benefit from the Green Fund.
Extending the CRTE approach
Sébastien Martin applauds the “logic of credit deconcentration” and notes that “[les compétences du bloc communal] in particular, it is at the heart of the ecological transition with mobility, housing, industrial waste, and even water treatment.
According to the president of the French Intercommunal Organization, the interest of the communities is to expand the approach to recovery and environmental transition agreements (CRTE) that contribute to the implementation of new projects.
Also, Sebastien Martin, president of Grand Chalon, shares the example of an inter-municipal maritime center that accounts for 50% of the community’s energy consumption. Studies have begun to consider thermal retrofitting of equipment with the goal of reducing energy consumption by 50%. Such a project can apply to the Green Fund.
“Win-win” partnership
Ludovic Rochette emphasizes that “it affects all municipalities, whether rural or suburban, as well as mixed associations and energy associations.
The president of AIF 21 welcomes the “win-win” partnership, the work done to reduce energy consumption and promote housing construction in the municipality, thereby becoming a “resource element”.
Filtering of files that have already been explored
Prefect of Jura, Serge Kastel, reports that a special group with a special contact address has been created between the prefecture and the departmental administration of the territories.
Already submitted files are being “filtered” for rural equipment grant (DETR), local investment support grant (DSIL) and therefore restoration and environmental transition contracts (CRTE). Green Fund criteria.
Aware of the differences in the engineering capabilities of small municipalities, the Prefect of Jura states that in 2024 they will be supported to benefit from the green fund.
Mobilization of various government services and institutions
Jean-Pierre Lestoille, director of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (DREAL) Regional Directorate for the Environment, Planning and Housing, insists that all public services are organized to support local authorities. , be it ADEME, DDT, DREAL, DRAAF. or water agencies.
In this regard, François Rollin, director of the delegation of the Rhône Méditerranée Corse water agency in Besançon, states that the Green Fund participates in the national strategy for biodiversity for 2030.
Jean-Christophe Tardivon
Press release from the Prefecture of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comte region dated January 31, 2023:
Green Fund for acceleration of ecological transition in territories
1. Fund to move quickly and everywhere
Faced with climate and energy crises, clear and ambitious goals have been set at the national level to protect biodiversity, manage resources and land, and achieve carbon neutrality and net zero artificiality by 2050.
The France Relance plan implemented by the state has enabled public and private actors to participate strongly in the energy transition throughout the regional area with significant support. Almost 900 communities in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté have benefited from more than 193 million euros and enabled the implementation of more than 1,500 projects. In Côte d’Or, 164 local authorities implemented 300 projects and received €42.85 million in aid from France Relance.
With the Green Fund announced by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on August 27, 2022 and effective from the beginning of January, it is a matter of continuing, expanding and accelerating this great project and strengthening the resilience of the territories.
In addition to other public instruments already mobilized on these topics, the Green Fund has been provided at national level with €2 billion, including an envelope worth €72.12 M for the Bourgogne-Franche-Comte region.
These loans in decentralized management with prefects are directed mainly to the communities to act at the right scale and to translate very concretely the measures envisaged in the Agreements on Recovery and Ecological Transition.
The Green Fund prioritizes energy renovation of public buildings, control of our space and energy consumption, protection of natural spaces, urban renaturation and development of the car fleet.
It will finance projects submitted by local authorities and their public or private partners in three areas representing 14 measures, 11 of which belong to the Bourgogne-Franche-Côte region: environmental indicators, adaptation of the area to climate change and habitat improvement.
Thus, the Green Fund will find multiple and immediate answers to positively impact the daily lives of the French: renovating schools, using less energy-intensive sports equipment, choosing cheaper street lighting, sorting waste, preventing the risk of flooding, etc.
It should allow for a double leverage and acceleration effect so that local authorities can move more quickly to start their operations.
Finally, it intends to promote and support environmental requirements that ensure the sought-after level of quality and efficiency.
The Green Fund aims to achieve 7 goals of green ambitions:
• Third-tier buildings: support for energy renovation of local public buildings to reduce CO2 emissions from high-rise buildings by 40% by 2030;
• Natural areas: support for the management of protected natural areas for 10% of strongly protected natural areas;
• Carbon neutrality by 2050: help to create or develop low emission zones – mobility – help to renew energy to reduce our GHG emissions by 55% in 2030 at European level / 1990;
• Land reclamation: aid in the recycling of vacant lots and help in the renaturation of cities to halve the rate of land reclamation by 2031;
• Waste: promote waste sorting and recovery to reduce non-inert hazardous waste to less than 50% by 2025 and only 10% of household and similar waste to landfill by 2030;
• Risk prevention: helping to prevent the risk of flooding, glacier collapse, cyclones, wildfires, shoreline retreat;
• Black spots on green and blue frame: helps restore environmental sustainability to reduce black spots on green and blue frame.
2. Specific actions on territories
The Green Fund intends to respond to the diversity of territorial realities by financing particularly important local projects from 2023.
In Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, 11 measures were implemented in commitment authorizations (AE) with a total value of €72.12 million.
Action 1: environmental performance: €24.25 million
Action 2: adaptation to climate change: €8.31 million
Action 3: habitat improvement: €23.50 million
In addition to these measures, there are loans aimed at helping local authority engineering to achieve the objectives of the Green Fund: € 0.92 million.
Finally, the Banque des Territoires will provide a range of additional services supported by the Green Fund, namely a €207 million subsidy for site engineering dedicated to projects and a €1 billion loan from savings funds to contribute to the financing of projects.
3. Simple and accessible device
Useful links:
1. your department prefecture and its DDT.
Departmental prefectures are the privileged interlocutors of local authorities to apply for the Green Fund.
2. In the region
DREAL (fonds-vert-bfc@developpement-durable.gouv.fr)
SGAR (sgar-fonds-vert@bfc.gouv.fr)
The Green Fund also mobilizes the regional offices of the State and public operators (Ademe, Water Agencies) to guide and advise the promoters in their procedures and instruct some of the measures that concern them.
Where can I find information?
– Dedicated internet platform:
https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/fonds-vert
It provides all useful information to project managers with a guide for local decision makers.
https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/F…
– Frequently asked questions
– accompanying notebooks for project promoters, which form a useful repository for understanding each measure and the eligibility conditions to be met.
– A unique tool for submitting help requests by project managers:
Submission of applications is carried out in a fully dematerialized manner. Application forms are available through the Aides-Territoires platform:
https://aides-territoires.beta.gouv.fr/programmes/…
This platform lists more widely available public assistance to finance and support projects on many topics.
Photos provided by the Prefecture of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region
