April 22, 2022 - Marks the 50^th Earth Day. Our beautiful planet is facing many problems, the biggest, of course, being climate change whose effects we can all see and feel happening. The race is on, the world's leaders are discussing change, some things are moving along, but is it enough? Earthday.org calls to action saying that "we need to act (boldly), innovate (broadly), and implement (equitably)". Google celebrates bees.

In Croatia, as Index writes, The Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund announces three public calls totaling 96 million kuna to co-finance environmental projects related to climate change, biodiversity protection and waste management.

The first call is worth HRK 20 million and is intended for facilities owned by the Republic of Croatia, units of regional and local self-government or public institutions that finance projects aimed at reducing the consumption of ozone-depleting substances and fluorinated greenhouse gases.

These are projects aimed at replacing existing cooling systems with those that use new technologies and do not damage the ozone layer, and at the same time are more energy efficient. For an individual project, it is possible to receive up to 1.2 million kuna, or up to 100 percent of eligible costs. The goal is to facilitate the transition to technologies with a lower impact on climate change, both in terms of global warming potential and energy efficiency.

The second call is intended exclusively for public institutions for the management of national parks and nature parks and other protected parts of nature. 10 million kuna will be co-financed for projects that contribute to the control of the population of several invasive alien species.

Namely, the EU and the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development have identified priority invasive alien species and areas where they need to be urgently removed or controlled in order to prevent their further spread and negative impact on indigenous species and habitats.

These include the small Indian mongoose (Herpestes javanicus auropunctatus), pond slider turtles (Trachemys scripta), spinycheek crayfish (Orconectes limosus), signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus), the Ludwigia alpseima and Ailanthus altissima, also known as tree of heaven.

The third call is to encourage measures for the separate collection of municipal waste by local self-government units and companies and legal or natural persons - trade owners. 66 million kuna has been provided for the improvement of local waste management systems, and the purchase of communal equipment and devices will be co-financed, as well as various citizen education projects. After all, motivated and informed citizens are a key element of any successful system.

"Activities co-financed through the calls are a step towards green transition and only one part of the Fund's planned programs for 2022. By the end of the year, 14 more calls in the field of environmental protection and energy efficiency are expected to be published," the Fund announced.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

For the sixth time in Croatia, Saturday, April 22nd (Earth Day), will host the largest ecological national campaign "Green Cleanup - One Day for a Clean Environment", which will once again bring together volunteers from all over Croatia.

Triangle of Youth Kaštela is pleased to invite you to the 8th annual Kozjak Cleaning Action which takes place today, April 22, 2017 – not coincidentally on Earth Day.