EMP kliimaprogrammi aastaaruande esitamine 2024

Pärt-Eo Rannap Riigi Tugiteenuste Register 03.04.2024 nr 4-5/19/48 EMP kliimaprogrammi aastaaruande esitamine 2024 Austatud hära Rannap Edastame EMP toetuste 2014–2021 programmi „Kliimamuutuste leevendamine ja nendega kohanemine“ aastaaruande 2023. aasta kohta koos lisaga. Lugupidamisega (allkirjastatud digitaalselt) Tanel Ross Finantsosakonna juhataja Lisad: 1. 2022. aasta „Kliimamuutuste leevendamine ja nendega kohanemine“ aastaaruanne 2. Lisa 5. Monitooringu plaan aastaks 2024 Eleri Seer, 605 0298 [email protected] Suur-Ameerika 1 / Tallinn 10122 / 626 2802/ [email protected] / www.kliimaministeerium.ee/ Registrikood 70001231  ANNUAL PROGRAMME REPORT FM14-21 Estonia EE-CLIMATE Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation 2023 1 A. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Estonia already has at the national level a strategic policy approach for climate change and the Programme is aimed at mitigation and adaptation activities at local level. The Programme is in accordance with international, European, and national level strategies and policies. The Programme is closely linked with national level strategies and policies and contributes to the achievement of the goals of the “Estonia 2035” development strategy, the Environmental Strategy 2030, General Principles of Climate Policy until 2050 and the Estonian Development Plan for Climate Change Adaptation until 2030 (NAS ). The overall goal of the NAS is to increase the readiness and ability of the state, regional and local levels to adapt to the impact of climate change. These projects under the Programme are directly connected to some of the subgoals of the Estonian NAS. For example the subgoal to ensure the diversity of species, habitats and landscapes, the favourable condition and the integrity of land and aquatic ecosystem services with adequate quality in the changing climate. Also one of the goals of NAS is to raise awareness about climate change and adaptation measures and the projects under the Programme are designed to raise awareness on local level and produce good practical example areas for others to learn from. The programme is also connected to the goals of “Estonia 2035”, especially the goal to start extensive implementation and planning of solutions in cooperation with local governments to reduce and adapt to the effects of climate change, increase and preserve biodiversity, diversify the living environment. The maintenance and restoration of habitats, the enhancement of biodiversity and the protection of soils over a sufficiently large area are important both for the preservation of biodiversity and for buffering and adapting to climate change. General Principles of the Climate Policy until 2050 also states that the awareness of the society of the mitigation of climate change and adaptation to its effects should be increased to shape the climate-friendly attitudes and choices of consumers as well as companies. Knowledge, skills and attitudes related to climate change will be more thoroughly addressed on all levels of education and non-formal environmental education. There are many projects in the Programme that are dedicated to creating innovative learning opportunities about environment and climate change issues. One of the subgoals is to purposefully improve preparedness to consider the effects of climate change to the natural environment and to support the optimal adaptation of natural species, habitats and ecosystems to the effects of climate change. This subgoal is also linked to the Programme. The Programme contributes also to the Environmental Strategy 2030. Projects under the Programme are linked with the subgoals of the Environmental Strategy 2030. For example outcome 1 is closely linked with subgoal of the biodiversity topic - Development and implementation of measures to eliminate alien species. Outcomes 2 and 3 are linked with subgoals of the waste and climate topics - raising awareness of the energy saving and waist management. The Programme helps raising environmental awareness (e.g. climate risks, circular economy), transition to a low-CO2 economy, mitigation and adaptation to a climate change, developing the framework of circular economy, including environmentally friendly public procurement, sustainable use of natural resources, and reduction of waste generation. The Programme will be closely linked to the new Estonian Environmental Development Plan 2030 (will be adopted 2024) and the new Waste Management Plan (adopted at the end of 2023). 1  From 1st of July the Ministry of the Environment was renamed the Ministry of Climate. From the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communication some policy areas were merged to the Ministry of Climate: energy, building construction, transportation, and marine economy. So, the Ministry of Climate is more powerful and will lead important processes in Estonia, including carbon neutrality and green transition. The new structure of the Ministry of Climate was adopted from 1st of September 2023, and some minor structural changes were adopted from 1st of January 2024. The Programme will be implementing as it is planned. The Programme “Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation" (hereinafter: Programme) is being implemented and the outcomes will be achieved through four open calls, one small grant scheme and one pre-defined project. As part of the small grant scheme, the development of local level climate change mitigation and adaptation plans was financed. Supported activities through the open calls also include measures to reduce invasive species, marine environment activities, framework for circular economy, increasing public awareness on climate change and circular economy as well as the implementation of climate change and adaptation plans and the activities of circular economy. The supported activities of the pre-defined project contributed to enhancing the circular economy capacity in the Estonian public sector. B. PERFORMANCE 1. Programme progress and results Objectives The Programme didn’t have any call launches in 2023. One project was funded from the Call 2 "Climate change mitigation and adaption measures" reserve list. As there were some leftovers from calls and after mapping possible leftovers of ongoing projects, PO took the risk and overbooked some funds, guessing there will be some more leftovers from ongoing projects. The risk was justified and there are more leftovers in some projects than the projects initially predicted. All together 8 projects are ongoing, and one finished in 2023 in Call 2. One project has a donor state partner. It seems that all ongoing projects will finalized by the end of the April 2024 when the eligibility period will be over. In Call 3 "Raising climate change awareness" one project is ongoing. The project has a donor state partner. Call 4 "Circular Economy pilot project" has 3 projects, from which one is ending and 2 are ongoing. The projects have all together 2 donor state partners. The pre-defined project "Enhanced capacity on Circular Economy" started in summer 2021, implemented 47 activities and ended 31.12.2023. Main communication activities to ensure the visibility of the Programme and donors have included posts about the projects’ implementation and bilateral activities. A mid-term event was organised 8-9 May where the best practices and pilots in EE-Climate Programme were introduced to a wider audience in Estonian local governments. Viken County municipality introduced their activities for circular economy and mitigation activities of climate change, including the importance and methods to involve citizens. On 27.08. - 01.09 the bilateral relations were strengthened through organizing a study trip to Iceland. During the study visit, the officials of the Ministry of Climate, the Environmental 2 Investment Centre, the Environmental Board, the Estonian Environmental Agency employees and employees of EEA Grants alien species projects from the University of Tartu and Estonian University of Life Sciences, learned how the monitoring and control of alien species are organized in Iceland's different municipalities, at the state level, and which solutions are used in different municipalities for different species and in different environmental conditions (including involvement methods, outreach, monitoring methods and control methods). The highest risks in 2023 were inflation and higher prices which might pose a threat to achieve indicators. Although it is not entirely possible to mitigate this risk, we are in constant communication with the PPs and trying to alleviate the risks by negotiations with projects, possible increasing of self-financing and some activities need to be cut down on volume just enough that the aim of the project will still be achievable. Outcome 1: Ecosystem resilience increased In Call 1 "Ecosystem resilience increased" were funded 2 projects and both are ongoing. The projects started in the second half of the year 2021, and the projects are in their final stage. All the important indicators are achieved or exceeded. The indicator “Number of invasive alien species whose pathways are analysed” is exceeded by 10 species and the indicator “Number of invasive species analysed for impact” is exceeded by 2 species. Activities of the projects of Call 1 "Ecosystem resilience increased" started in the second half of the year 2021 and continued in 2023. For marine species, the project has been extended until 31 March, 2024. Therefore, the activities of the project ”Impacts of invasive alien species and climate change on marine ecosystems in Estonia” are still ongoing and the planned results and outcomes will be ready in 2024. In 2023, most of the project activities involved the collection and integration of NIS-related scientific information into the PlanWise4Blue portal (https://gis.sea.ee/bluebiosites/). This includes data collection on the occurrence of NIS and the impact of their activities on different ecosystem components (e.g., the biotic and abiotic environment and ecosystem services). The collected scientific knowledge will be used to 1) model NIS distribution maps for all NIS in the project with sufficient available data, and 2) calculate the magnitude of NIS impacts on different nature values. The maps and effect sizes have been incorporated into the PW4B spatial planning tool and will be used to assess the impact of NIS. In addition, NIS with insufficient scientific evidence (data poor conditions) have been assessed using other methods. This will allow better and scientifically justified use of NIS data for marine environmental status and pressure assessments, including in the frames of the EU MSFD (D2C2 – established NIS: adverse effects on species or habitats). More specifically, the impact of NIS has been analysed on the basis of scientific publications, and as a result, several scientific articles have already been published as a part of the project (https://sisu.ut.ee/v66rliikidejakliimamuutustem6ju/publications-0?lang=en), including the methodology for quantifying the impact of NIS on marine ecosystem services. Habitat restoration was carried out in a pilot area on the former sand extraction site in Ihasalu Bay (near Prangli Island, Gulf of Finland). In 2022, Zostera marina was planted in three locations with a total area of 30 m2. In 2023, the progress of the restoration activities was monitored – plants were growing in all test sites. The loss rate was estimated to be 20%. The restoration trial can therefore be considered as a success. Additional material was collected and analysed to assess the carbon storage capacity of Zostera and other plant communities. Results and relevant recommendations for the restoration of Zostera habitats will be published at the end of the project. 3  New monitoring methods for NIS were also tested in 2023, but these analyses are still ongoing, so the results and a monitoring guideline will be available by the end of the project. In 2023, two training courses were held for marine administrators on the use of the PW4B portal, with 29 participants. Training will continue also in 2024. A children’s book on invasive species was published (https://sisu.ut.ee/v66rliikidejakliimamuutustem6ju/invasive-species-childrens-book?lang=en). Project “Eradication of aquatic invasive species in Estonian freshwaters” activities started, and project will be finished on 30.04.2024 Project has been actively implemented and main actions in 2023 were focusing on the practical reduction of alien crayfish in all known localities. Main actions have been catching crayfish in all the known locations. Unfortunately, due to the legislative conservatism of several authorities, chemical treatment was not able to be carried out any locations. It was hoped that chemical treatment could have been piloted during this project as it has been much more effective. As chemical treatment was not carried out the project team looked for alternative new methods and tried biocontrol in 2023 spring in 2 waterbodies. For this, European eels were released to hopefully prey on the alien crayfish specimens. This treatment has previously been tried in France on another alien crayfish species. True results will be seen in years after the end of the project, but preliminary results seem promising as the eels have been shown to eat the crayfish. On the crayfish also e-DNA methods have been further developed to use this in identification of new locations and hopefully to monitor the success rate of the eradication actions. Another project action was foreseen to try eradication or reduction of Nuttall’s waterweed (Elodea nutatallii). The species is very hard to be morphologically identified as it is very similar to the widespread Canadian waterweed (Elodea canadensis). Molecular techniques were used and no confirmed locations of Nutall’s waterweed were detected, therefore no eradication actions were carried out. A lot of outreach activities were carried out. Project was in several main TV programmes (15th of May Osoon, 8th of June morning TV show), several publications were produced, and film clips were produced and shown on ferries travelling between mainland and the 2 largest islands that are the most important native crayfish areas. Citizen science campaign to find additional alien crayfish locations was also carried out in cooperation with Estonian mobile app “Loodusvaatluste nutirakendus”. Project leader also took part in the study trip to Iceland in August and presented the project there. The studytrip was amazing opportunity to both learn more about different invasive alien species issues in Iceland and Estonia as well as to get new contacts for future cooperation. Also there are new and upcoming researchers coming partly thanks to the project. Two project related topics were defended on 1st of June at the Chair of Aquaculture: Bachelor thesis (abstract in English) by Raigo Nagel – “The potential of the European eel (Anguilla Anguilla) in the control of alien crayfish species“;  Master thesis (abstract in English) by Egne Krillo – “Impact of fisheries on signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) populations“. Outcome 2: Increased ability at the local level to reduce emissions and adapt to a changing climate 4 In Call 1 of SGS "Climate change mitigation and adaption plans" were funded 10 projects. Projects started in 2021 and all of them are finished by now. All the funded projects in SGS contribute to achieving results under the Outcome 2. 10 Estonian local governments have used this opportunity to create a climate plan for the Municipality: Keila, Narva, Pärnu, Rakvere cities and Tartu, Pärnu, Jõgeva, Võru, Lääne and Lääne-Viru counties (6 county level and 4 municipality level plans). In the frame of the SGS projects 34 municipalities have complied with national and EU climate mitigation/adaptation strategies. It is not yet mandatory for municipalities of Estonia to have their climate change mitigation and adaptation plans, but 58 of the 79 municipalities have already created their own plans. Since a lot of the climate change adaptation developments and actions are done at the local level, it is extremely important that all planning decisions are made on a uniform basis. Under Call 2 “Climate change mitigation and adaptation measures” there are 8 projects in implementation stage, and one is implemented already. The activities of the projects of Call 2 “Climate change mitigation and adaption measures” started in the second half of the year 2022. Call 2 focuses on local level climate change mitigation and adaptation activities that are done in public interest, like mitigating the heat island effect in cities, community gardens for environmental and climate education, nature-based solutions to increase biodiversity in cities and small towns, etc. Acti nature- rene based wabl Project solution Name of the Project Project Promoter e code s for ener increasi gy ng solut biodiver ions sity EE- Climate change mitigation and Viljandi city CLIMAT adaptation activities in Viljandi X government (EE) E-0026 town EE- Establishment of a rainwater Märjamaa CLIMAT recovery system in the Municipality (EE) E-0018 Metsanurga area Creation of pilot areas for EE- nature-based solutions to Tori Municipality CLIMAT X increase biodiversity in Tori (EE) E-0021 Municipality Tallinn Urban EE- The Pelgu allotment garden Environment and CLIMAT construction and follow-up Public Works E-0024 activities in urban gardening Department (EE) EE- Close-to-nature solutions at Keila City CLIMAT X Keila Song Festival Grounds Government (EE) E-0022 EE- Climate change adaptation Kohtla-Järve City CLIMAT X X activities in Kohtla-Järve Government (EE) E-0023 5  EE- Creating a Pernova Climate Pernova CLIMAT Education demonstration area Educational Centre X E-0025 "Smart Park" (EE) Tallinn Urban EE- Construction of Drinking Water Environment and CLIMAT Taps Public Works E-0020 Department (EE) Restoration and renovation of EE- the green infrastructure alleys of Municipality of CLIMAT X the town of Põltsamaa to Põltsamaa (EE) E-0019 alleviate the urban heat island In the Pernova Educational Centre project “Creating a Pernova Climate Education demonstration area “Smart Park”” a model area for climate education will be created. There is going to be a Smart Park and renewable energy infrastructure area with an outdoor training class about the environment and climate change. There will also be vertical wind turbines and solar panels with storage devices with the possibility of real-time monitoring. Construction has started and should be finished by the end of the project eligibility period. With the project climate change study programs are also being developed. Pernova Education Centre has the capacity to educate students, teachers, and local government officials. There are several projects concerning community gardens, fighting heat islands and creating green spaces, for example Tallinn Urban Environment and Public Works Department project “The Pelgu allotment garden construction and follow-up activities in urban gardening”, Tori Municipality project “Creation of pilot areas for nature-based solutions to increase biodiversity in Tori Municipality”, Kohtla-Järve City Municipality project “Climate change adaptation activities in Kohtla-Järve”, Põltsamaa Municipality project “Restoration and renovation of the green infrastructure alleys of the town of Põltsamaa to alleviate the urban heat island” and Viljandi City Municipality project “Climate change mitigation and adaptation activities in Viljandi town”. These projects raise awareness and help increase biodiversity. Keila City Municipality project “Close-to-nature solutions at Keila Song Festival Grounds” is a good example of the use of nature-based sustainable solutions. Rainwater will be collected, treated, and recycled. A rain garden will be created, an outdoor classroom and extensive and intensive green roofs will be built. In the Song Festival grounds water-permeable coatings will be used to avoid heat islands. There will be diverse landscaping and high greenery and public water taps. Public water taps are installed in several projects: Tallinn, Viljandi and Keila. In the Märjamaa Municipality project “Establishment of the rainwater recovery system in Metsanurga area” a rainwater recovery system is being created to prevent possible damage from heat waves and floods due to climate change. One project has already been finished at the end of 2023 - “Creation of pilot areas for nature- based solutions to increase biodiversity in Tori Municipality” converted a heat island in Sindi city into a green area, also established four biodiversity pilot or demonstration sites as workshops in different areas. Their awareness raising program concentrated on climate change and biodiversity. Call 3 started in the second half of the year 2022 and has one project “Climate change education to promote climate action” which aims to increase the competences necessary for climate 6 change mitigation and adaptation through climate change education in Estonia. An important educational material “ABC of Climate Change” has been developed. Trainings for teachers have been and will be carried out and of course input to curriculum (developing education strategies and materials) will be given. Outcome 3: Framework for Circular Economy strengthened The pre-defined circular economy project “Enhanced capacity on Circular Economy” has (it started on 19.07.2021). The sub-activities of the project were diverse and contributed to different areas including municipalities, schools, public sector, awareness rising, guidelines, study trips and different events and trainings. The project has made clearer the use of environmentally friendly public procurement for both procurers and providers, guidelines have been created, and the register of public procurement has been improved to enable easier use of environmentally friendly criteria. As well as criterias for 5 new sectors were put together. In 2023, all 79 Estonian local governments received a personal circular economy roadmap and recommendations for further circular economy activities. As well as national Circular Economy strategy ( the white paper of Circular Economy) was written. At the end of the year, a fair and international conference “Green Garden of Circular Economy” of companies contributing to the circular economy was organized. A year before that first conference was organized in Tartu. More than 100 public sector workers completed a training about circular economy including green public procurements, environmental management systems and stakeholder involvement. Moreover, project made circular economy visible which means that different articles, videos, campaigns were launched. For example, 36 schools participated in circular school competition. The project concerned various parties, including general education schools and students, consumers, local governments, manufacturers, and public sector employees. Different organisations were brought together to discuss on solutions of circular economy. The project partner Sintef contributed to the project with its own analysis and research skills, and the cooperation between the two countries was smooth. Through this cooperation Estonian public sector workers got a training to improve impact analysis skills and a study about single use plastic was written. All prepared materials are available for all in www.keskkonnaportaal.ee In call 4 “Circular economy pilot projects” were funded 3 projects, all of them are ongoing. The purpose of the grant was to contribute to the development of the circular economy and the introduction of more environmentally sustainable solutions by the public sector. In frame of this call projects, there are implemented innovative pilot projects which use circular principles and identify the effect of implementation it. In addition, competence in circular economy increases and good practices emerge, which can also be applied elsewhere, creating value for the entire society. The quality of environmental decisions made by local government units also improves. The directions of action of the circular economy of the city of Tallinn are, among other things, the creation of a reuse and repair society. Therefore, the emphasis is shifted from conventional waste stations to a circular house - waste stations are renamed to Circular economy centers and additional services are added (repairing, reusing). The plan is to create a network of circular economy centers based on existing waste stations and new circular economy centers to be created. In the roundhouses created next to the waste stations, the main focus is on reuse rooms and repair workshops. The general goal of the second pilot project is to reduce the environmental footprint of Rae municipality and to lay the foundation for the municipality to achieve zero emissions, thereby 7 contributing to the mitigation of climate change both in Rae municipality and in Estonia in general. The direct goal of the project is the development and piloting of functional solutions promoting the circular economy, which could also be implemented in other municipalities. As part of the Tartu circular renovation project, solutions are being piloted that prove the circular use potential of building materials. The most important goal of the project is that the principles of the circular economy are integrated into the process of the renovation wave taking place in the city of Tartu. Bilateral Outcome: Enhanced collaboration between beneficiary and donor state entities involved in the programme There are 12 finished projects in the EE-CLIMATE programme by the end of 2023, and most of the results under the bilateral outcomes have been achieved. In SGS, there are 7 projects (out of 10) with donor state partners and both projects of Call 1 have a donor state partner. The pre- defined project under Outcome 3 has a donor state partner and Outcome 3 Call 4 has 2 donor state partners. Outcome 2 Call 2 and 3 both have one donor state partner. So, all together out of 26 projects, there are 14 projects with donor state partners. Donor state partners have consulted project partners in different activities and conducted different activities in different projects. Some examples of successful cooperation: 1) The Norwegian partner SINTEF Manufacturing AS (NO) helped with the pre-defined project, which resulted in the completion of an Estonian national strategy for the development of circular economy through a so-called "white paper," which also contributes to changing people's consumption behavior. SINTEF’s work centred on an analysis of how different parts of the Estonian economy will be affected by going circular, as well as a survey to identify and fill knowledge gaps and barriers with regards to circular economy activities across Estonia’s municipalities. As well as they did “Impact analysis for a potential circular economy strategy for the plastic sector in Estonia”. Available: https://sintef.brage.unit.no/sintef-xmlui/handle/11250/3093396 2) In Call 3 "Raising climate change awareness” The University Museum of Bergen (NO) advises development of education strategies and materials and increasing climate change competencies following their previous experience. 3) In Call 4 City of Oslo is a partner’s organization of the Strategic Centre of Tallinn (City of Tallinn). They share their circular economy experiences and welcomed the Estonian partners in Oslo and presented them their reuse and repair centres. 4) Also, in Call 4 project Circular renovation in Tartu has two partners from Norway - Municipality of Trondheim and SINTEF AS. They exchanged the national and city-specific state of art, best practices, and novel solutions to improve the city specific governance models of advancing the circularity of construction materials in Tartu and Trondheim. Although Trondheim Municipality (Trondheim Kommune) was very supportive of the subject and Tartu’s project, they were not able to host an Estonian study visit or attend workshop in Tartu. Sintef was present in their study visit to Norway and helped them to prepare a workshop in Tartu and attended the workshop to share the experience and introduce Norwegian policy in circular renovation. 5) In Call 2 Kongsberg kommunale eiendom KF (NO) in Pernova project contributes through meetings and expertise, sharing their similar experience from Norway. 8 6) All Call 4 “Circular Economy pilot project” projects visited Norwegian municipalities and circular economy institutions to learn, exchange ideas and knowledge. Although several projects didn’t have partners in Donor states, they had bilateral activities – visits to Norwegian institutions and had consultations with them – e.g. Rae Municipality visited Asker and Fredrikstad municipalities in April 2023 where both municipalities presented their best examples of their circular economy in municipal functions, development plans, etc. Fredrikstad also presented a few projects from university and secondary school about the subject. They also visited businesses’ (water treatment, biogas plant, recycling metals and batteries) and public institutions’ (youth school and cathedral) best examples of circular economy. 7) Call 1 project "Ecosystem resilience increased” benefitted from the expertise of a Norwegian partner. The task for the Norwegian partner, the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research, in the project, was to contribute with their knowledge and expertise on the assessment of the consequences of marine non-indigenous species invasions for the consideration of application in the Baltic Sea. Exchange of knowledge with a primary focus on methodological issues was one of the priority tasks of this cooperation. This was a specific spin-off activity in the framework of more general and much wider international cooperation within ICES WGITMO (Working Group on Introductions and Transfers of Marine Organisms of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea), which will be continued also in the future. The cooperation with the Donor Programme Partner has been very good. DPP has helped to organize the mid-term event and consulted throughout the implementation of Programme. Direct communication has been abled in events and meetings. After the Cooperation Committee meeting in Oslo on November 23rd, 2023, the DPP organized an experience sharing event introducing the AI waste management infosystems company Carrot and its activities, circular building material company Ombygg and their business model, and the Norwegian Agency for Public and Financial Management who introduced the green public procurement developments in Norway. The major challenge or lessons to learn in 2023: Some projects have faced unforeseen challenges in their activities. In Call 1 “Ecosystem resilience increased” both projects had some challenges with their bilateral activities. One of the projects planned to use chemicals for the first time in Estonia to control freshwater invasive species – similar to Norway. Their partner, the Norwegian Veterinary Institute consulted them in choosing the correct method and chemicals for eradication, but there was an unexpected obstacle – the Estonian Environmental Agency didn’t give permission for conducting the chemical control in water bodies. So, the analysis was done, but it was not possible to implement the planned activity. This obstacle was hard to prevent as the concrete measures and chemicals were selected during the project so it would have been difficult for the Estonian Environmental Agency to give their opinion about chemical eradication in advance. Another Call 1 “Ecosystem resilience increased” project had a great cooperation with their Norwegian partner, but the contact person decided to retire and as there wasn’t enough human resources, no one took over the management of project and therefore no reports were submitted. The Norwegian Institute of Marine Research (IMR NO) therefore resigned from the project and claimed no costs. 9  This was also an unforeseen obstacle and when the institution signed the partnership agreement it was impossible to foresee. Bilateral relations visit to Iceland To strengthen the relationship with Icelandic institutions, PO organized a study trip for 6 institutions' specialists from Estonia on 27.08.2023 - 01.09.2023. During the study visit, the officials of the Ministry of Climate, the Environmental Investment Centre, the Environmental Board, the Estonian Environmental Agency employees and employees of EEA Grants alien species projects from the University of Tartu and the Estonian University of Life Sciences learned how the monitoring and control of alien species is organized in Iceland's different municipalities, at the state level, and which solutions are used in different municipalities for different species and in different environmental conditions (including involvement methods, outreach, monitoring methods and control methods). Institutions that were visited:  Icelandic Institute of Natural History  Association of Local Authorities in Iceland  Rannis - The Icelandic Centre for Research  Green by Iceland  Reykjavik Botanical Garden  Andakíll Nature Reserve, Agricultural University Headquarters  University of Iceland Research Centre of the Westfjords  West Iceland Research Centre  Southwest Iceland Nature Research Centre  The Marine and Freshwater Research Institute  The Environment Agency of Iceland Participants who are responsible for monitoring activities got useful ideas and contacts for new technical solutions for presenting environmental information more attractively to the public. Estonian experts had the opportunity to draw useful conclusions from Icelandic alien species management and the results of it. The obtained contacts can be used in future cooperation and projects. It is planned to analyse the introduced cheaper methods used in Sandgerði port for monitoring marine alien species, to expand the monitoring of alien species into some Estonian ports, including small ports. Estonians also shared some contacts that are useful for Icelandic organisations, e.g., to popularize eating the flounder (Platichthys flesus), which is an alien species in Iceland, but native in Estonia. Estonian experts also introduced a method that is used for eradication of alien plants – processing these in certain growth phases with hot steam. Iceland is also attractive for Estonian science institutions as their institutions have unique opportunities – clean seawater in 2 laboratories. 10  Some practical advice was also shared - how to attach an acoustic tag to a fish without operating it under the skin or how to construct removable invasive species monitoring panels, citizen science in mapping of alien species, etc. All in all, meeting the Icelandic experts gave good possibilities for future international cooperation. C. MONITORING AND EVALUATION 1. Monitorings carried out In 2023, there has been active communication between our programme operator implementing agency (POIA Environmental Investment Centre (EIC)) and project promoters via telephone calls and e-mails, if necessary, to avoid any possible delays in projects and to be aware of any risks that may endanger the implementation of the projects. Project reports for every call’s projects and the pre-defined project describing project activities carried out in 2023 are submitted for verification to EIC on January 15th, 2024. EIC has also conducted project check-ups for public procurement documents before publishing the procurement. Check-ups are also conducted after the procurement has been finished and the contract signed. EIC and MoE have participated in the steering committee meetings of the pre-defined project as observers to be up to date with the most current information and the state of implementation of the project. During this reporting period there have been three on-site monitoring visits as follows:  Call 1 – The on-site monitoring was performed in May 2023 for the Estonian University of Life Sciences “Eradication of aquatic invasive species in Estonian freshwaters” project. No fouls were detected.  Pre-defined project – The on-site monitoring for the Environment Agency “Enhanced capacity on Circular Economy” project was performed in November 2023. No fouls were detected.  Call 2 – Tori Municipality on-site monitoring was performed after all the activities were completed in November 2023. No fouls were detected. The Pre-defined Project had a conference and fair of circular economy “Ringmajanduse roheaed” (The Green Garden of Circular Economy) on the 1st of November 2023. Representatives from PO and EIC also attended the conference. During the Mid-term event site-visits on May 9th, 2023, Keila City song festival ground nature- based solutions’ project (project Close-to-nature solutions at Keila Song Festival Grounds) was visited as well as the circular economy project in Tallinn in two locations. During the PO Networking event May 30-31st, 2023, 5 EEA Grants projects were visited:  The transition of civic amenity sites into reuse and repair centre  Close-to-nature solutions at Keila Song Festival Grounds  Restoration and renovation of the green infrastructure alleys of the town of Põltsamaa to alleviate the urban heat island  Circular renovation in TartuEradication of aquatic invasive species in Estonian freshwaters 11  On the 7th of December 2023 Rae Municipality had their closing conference on Circular economy where EIC participated. February-April 2023 one project audit was carried out by the auditing authority for the SGS project “Tartu County Climate change mitigation and adaptation plan” (EE-CLIMATE-0002) of Tartumaa Association of Local Authorities. The audit ended without any remarks. In 2023 two irregularities have been discovered and are now in process. Both are for the Call I Estonian University of Life Sciences project “Eradication of aquatic invasive species in Estonian freshwaters”. These irregularities involve framework contract for procurement and mini calls that must be carried out accordingly, but the evaluation criteria set out in the framework contract are selective and opaque and therefore do not meet the Procurement law criteria. 2. Evaluations carried out The evaluation plan was submitted to FMO with the Strategic Report on the 23rd of July 2020. According to the evaluation plan, the ex-post evaluation of EE-Climate Programme was planned for 2023 . The public procurement will be carried out in the 1. quarter of 2024. The aim of the evaluation is to assess the quality of the Programme and its achievements. D. ANNEXES 1. Results achieved 2. Communication summary 3. Project summary and call details 4. Risk management 5. Monitoring plan 6. Evaluation report 7. Agreement conditions 12  Annex 1: Results achieved Objective: Climate change mitigated and vulnerability to climate change reduced Outcome 1: Ecosystem resilience increased Achievements until end of December Unit of Previous Baselin 2023 Target Indicator measureme achievement Comment e value Numerato Denominato Achieveme value nt value r r nt value Number of regions with pressure Cumulative Estonian University of Life 20 4 (APR 2022) - - 0 0 on indigenous species number Sciences (20) Number of marine regions with Cumulative climate regulation services 0 0 (APR 2022) - - 1 3 University of Tartu (1) number improved Output 1.1: Invasive alien species impact and pathways analysed Achievements until end of December Unit of Previous Baselin 2023 Target Indicator measureme achievement Comment e value Numerato Denominato Achieveme value nt value r r nt value Target value changed – Number of invasive alien species Cumulative 20 (IFR University of Tartu 10, 0 - - 20 10 whose pathways are analysed number 2023) Estonian University of Life Sciences 10 Achievement from marine Number of invasive species Cumulative 10 (IFR 0 - - 10 8 ecosystem (University of analysed for impact number 2023) Tartu) Output 1.2: Measures to reduce invasive species implemented Achievements until end of December Unit of Previous Baselin 2023 Target Indicator measureme achievement Comment e value Numerato Denominato Achieveme value nt value r r nt value Number of localities where alien Cumulative 16 (IFR 0 - - 20 20 EULS species have been targeted number 2023) Number of invasive species Cumulative 0 3 (IFR 2023) - - 3 4 EULS combated number 13 Number of professional staff Cumulative 35 (IFR 0 - - 35 30 EULS 30, UT 5 trained number 2023) Gender Female - - 0 - - 0 - - Male - - 0 - - 0 - - Not specified - - 35 - - 35 - - Output 1.3: Restoration of carbon-sequestering marine habitats piloted Achievements until end of December Unit of Previous Baselin 2023 Target Indicator measureme achievement Comment e value Numerato Denominato Achieveme value nt value r r nt value Number of habitats that sequester Cumulative 0 0 (IFR 2023) - - 1 1 UT and store blue carbon restored number Outcome 2: Increased ability at the local level to reduce emissions and adapt to a changing climate Achievements until end of December Unit of Previous Baselin 2023 Target Indicator measureme achievement Comment e value Numerato Denominato Achieveme value nt value r r nt value Number of people self-reporting Cumulative increased awareness on climate 0 0 (APR 2022) Reported 2020, 2022, 2024 10,000 - number adaptation and mitigation Number of municipalities supported to come into compliance Cumulative 34 (IFR 0 - - 34 6 10 projects were supported. with national or EU number 2023) mitigation/adaptation strategies Output 2.1: Local level climate change mitigation and adaptation plans developed Achievements until end of December Unit of Previous Baselin 2023 Target Indicator measureme achievement Comment e value Numerato Denominato Achieveme value nt value r r nt value Number of local level energy and Cumulative 10 (IFR climate change mitigation and 0 - - 10 6 - number 2023) adaptation plans developed Output 2.2: Mitigation and adaptation measures implemented 14  Achievements until end of December Unit of Previous Baselin 2023 Target Indicator measureme achievement Comment e value Numerato Denominato Achieveme value nt value r r nt value Number of climate change Pernova project 4, Tori Cumulative mitigation and adaptation 0 0 (IFR 2023) - - 9 6 Municipality 2, Kohta-Järve number measures implemented Municipality 3 Output 2.3: Increased public awareness on climate change Achievements until end of December Unit of Previous Baselin 2023 Target Indicator measureme achievement Comment e value Numerato Denominato Achieveme value nt value r r nt value 7 SGS projects and 1 Call II Number of people reached by Cumulative 46 (IFR project communication general awareness-raising 0 - - 17,655 10,000 number 2023) activities reached at least activities 17655 people. Number of schools taking part in climate change education Cumulative Indicator will be filled with 0 0 (IFR 2023) - - 0 30 programmes supported by the number final report programme. Outcome 3: Framework for Circular Economy strengthened Achievements until end of December Unit of Previous Baselin 2023 Target Indicator measureme achievement Comment e value Numerato Denominato Achieveme value nt value r r nt value Estonian Government is in Yes (IFR compliance with the EU strategy Binary No - - Yes Yes - 2023) for Circular Economy Output 3.1: Enhanced capacity on Circular Economy Achievements until end of December Unit of Previous Baselin 2023 Target Indicator measureme achievement Comment e value Numerato Denominato Achieveme value nt value r r nt value Strategy on Circular Economy Yes (IFR Binary No - - Yes Yes - completed 2023) 15  Pre-defined project carried Number of professionals trained on Cumulative out 5 trainings in different 0 0 (IFR 2023) - - 100 100 Circular Economy number regions, where 100 professionals were trained Gender Female - - 0 - - 0 - - Male - - 0 - - 0 - - Not specified - - 0 - - 100 - - 10 categories for Green Public procurement are developed, but 5 of them in frame of project - electricity, Number of categories for Green Cumulative textile (goods and 0 4 (IFR 2023) - - 5 10 Public Procurement developed number services),construction of office buildings, road planning and construction, food products and services and food vending machines The media campaign included TV, radio, social media, outdoor advertising, Number of people reached by Cumulative 0 0 (IFR 2023) - - 200,000 10,000 screens in public awareness raising campaigns number transportation and it reached at least 200 000 different people. 36 schools registered, 20 Number of schools participating in Cumulative 0 0 (IFR 2023) - - 36 30 submitted their video for the Green Schools Competition number competition Output 3.2: Measures for Circular Economy implemented Achievements until end of December Unit of Previous Baselin 2023 Target Indicator measureme achievement Comment e value Numerato Denominato Achieveme value nt value r r nt value Number of circular economy pilot Cumulative 0 0 (IFR 2023) - - 0 4 Not yet achieved measures implemented number Bilateral Outcome: Enhanced collaboration between beneficiary and donor state entities involved in the programme 16  Achievements until end of December Unit of Previous Baselin 2023 Target Indicator measureme achievement Comment e value Numerato Denominato Achieveme value nt value r r nt value 6.63, 4.50, Based Target is on the ≥4.5, Level of trust between cooperating survey 6.94 (APR and an entities in beneficiary states and Scale 1-7 - - 6.94 - carried 2022) increase donor states out on on the behalf of baseline the FMO value 6.61, 4.50, Based Target is on the ≥4.5, Level of satisfaction with the survey 6.75 (APR and an Scale 1-7 - - 6.75 - partnerships carried 2022) increase out on on the behalf of baseline the FMO value Share of cooperating organisations 75.00 % that apply the knowledge acquired Percentage N/A 6 8 75.00 % 50.00 % - (APR 2022) from bilateral partnerships Bilateral Output 1: Cooperation between beneficiary and donor state entities supported Achievements until end of December Unit of Previous Baselin 2023 Target Indicator measureme achievement Comment e value Numerato Denominato Achieveme value nt value r r nt value Number of training courses In addition to previous Cumulative 15 (IFR organised by donor state and 0 - - 16 10 reports -Alien species study number 2023) beneficiary state entities visit to Iceland Number of projects involving More projects had partners Cumulative 14 (IFR cooperation with a donor state 0 - - 14 5 and some of them even 2 number 2023) partner partners from donor states. 17 Annex 2: Communication summary 1. Best projects Tartu City Government’s project “Circular renovation in Tartu” is targeting the construction sector. The project aims to pilot tools for supporting circular renovation in the city of Tartu and also beyond its borders. Tartu develops universal methods and designs for supporting the circular use of construction materials originating from renovation projects. Guidelines for self-builders and owners of detached houses are created. A business model for the construction material bank and bring centre of Tartu will be created and four public bike pavilions have been already built. Tallinn Strategic Management Office project “The transition of civic amenity sites into reuse and repair centres” is creating new civic amenity cites: 2 reuse rooms (people can give/take re-usable goods for free) and 4 repair workshops (to mend different items, e.g. furniture, textile, wood items, bicycles) will be created. The reuse and repair rooms are targeted to different age groups from kindergarten kids to elderly people. The creation of Reuse and Repair Centres will enliven the local community life and give residents the opportunity to develop and practice the circular economy themselves. The project will be implemented in cooperation with different project partners, who all are specialists in their field and have a vital role to play for the project to succeed. The predefined project (EE-CLIMATE-0013), whose goal is to increase circular economy in Estonia, has finished their project 31.12.2023. Instead of 14 activities that were planned in the project application, this project managed to implement 47 activities in the frame of their budget. One of the planned activities was cancelled. As an important step, thanks to this project, the use and aim of green public procurement has become clearer as guidelines have been created. In 2023, local governments received guidance materials that help local governments in promoting circular economy. Now we have a common understanding on how to move towards a circular economy. The project touched various parties, including teachers, consumers, local governments, producers, the public sector employees, whose knowledge the sub-activities of the project contributed to. At the same time, we cannot forget that the project partner Sintef (NO) has put its analysis and research skills into the project to increase the capacity of the circular economy, and the cooperation between the two countries has been smooth. 2. Visibility of the Grants and the Donors 2.a. Communication activities A Mid-Term event was organized as a 2-day event for the main target group of calls – local government environmental specialists. Introduction of the event was held by Meelis Münt (Ministry of the Environment), Marius Dirdal (Embassy of Norway), Anne Marie Mo Ravik (Norwegian Environment Agency), Tanel Oppi (KIK). The best practices of climate change adaptation and mitigation and circular economy in local governments were introduced in the event, with strong emphasis on EE-Climate projects activities. We also had insights in how Norwegian Viken county municipality 18  promotes the circular economy and climate mitigation. On the second day we had site-visits to best practices in municipalities, for example from EEA Grants projects Pääsküla waste management centre new reuse room and repair workshop, community garden, and Keila song festival grounds’ nature- based water management system and flower meadows. In addition to the Mid-term event, which was targeted mainly for local governments in Estonia, we had a Networking event for Programme operators on May 30-31, 2023, to maintain the already existing relationships and enhance the collaboration between POs. Besides the above mentioned, we also discussed important topics and visited projects that are implemented with the EEA Grants. POs from Latvia, Czech Republic and Poland participated in the event. Unfortunately, no one from donor countries managed to join this event. 2.b. Project stories Project stories are published on the Project Promoters webpage. Those web-pages for SGS are published on the EIC website: https://kik.ee/et/toetatavad-tegevused/kohalike-omavalitsuste-kliima-ja-energiakavad Call 1:  Estonian University of Life Sciences - Eradication of aquatic invasive species in Estonian freshwaters  Tartu University - Impacts of invasive alien species and climate change on marine ecosystems in Estonia Call 2:  Tori Municipality - Creation of pilot areas for nature-based solutions to increase biodiversity in Tori Municipality  Tallinn Urban Environment and Public Works Department - The Pelgu allotment garden construction and follow-up activities in urban gardening  Märjamaa Municipality - Establishment of a rainwater recovery system in the Metsanurga area  Municipality of Põltsamaa - Restoration and renovation of the green infrastructure alleys of the town of Põltsamaa to alleviate the urban heat island  Keila City Government - Close-to-nature solutions at Keila Song Festival Grounds  Tallinn Urban Environment and Public Works Department - Construction of Drinking Water Taps  Pernova Educational Centre - Creating a Pernova Climate Education demonstration area "Smart Park" 19  Kohtla-Järve City Government - Climate change adaptation activities in Kohtla-Järve  Viljandi City Government - Climate change mitigation and adaptation activities in Viljandi town Call 3:  Tartu University – Climate change education to promote climate action Call 4:  Strategic Centre of Tallinn - The transition of civic amenity sites into reuse and repair centres  Tartu City Government - Circular Renovation in Tartu  Rae Rural Municipality Government - Circular Economy project in Rae Municipality Pre-defined project:  Environmental Board - Enhanced capacity on Circular Economy 3. Media coverage 3 articles in papers (Postimees, on the 30th of May 2023):  https://roheline.postimees.ee/7782153/poltsamaa-linn-leevendab-rohelusega-linnasudame-kuumasaari (The city of Põltsamaa alleviates heat island effects with greenery)  https://roheline.postimees.ee/7782150/pelgu-uhisaiaga-luuakse-linnaelanikele-roheline-linnaruum (A green urban space is created for the citizens with the Pelgu allotment garden)  https://roheline.postimees.ee/7782129/tori-valla-elurikkuse-suurendamine-on-kogukonna-kokkukasvamise-lugu (Increasing biodiversity in Tori municipal is a story of growing together as a community) 3 articles in papers (Postimees, on the 5th of June 2023): 20   “Keila lauluväljak saab looduslähedase kuue nii välimuselt kui ka olemuselt” (Keila song-festival ground shall have a nature-based outfit both in appearance and in nature);  “Kohtla-Järve suurendab linnaruumis elurikkust” (Kohtla-Järve is increasing biodiversity in urban areas);  “Pärnusse tuleb Eesti esimene kliimahariduse näidisala ja taastuvenergial toimiv õuesõppeklass” (The first model area for climate education and renewable energy outdoor study-class in Estonia will be created in Pärnu). Posts in Facebook: May 11th 2023, a press release about the Mid-term event “How to prepare a good climate and energy plan?” June 10th, 2023, a press release about the EEA Grants Mid-term event and visiting projects as best examples – “Did you know that Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are funding Estonian environmental and climate projects via the EEA Grants programme?” October 12th, 2023, a press release about creating a circular building material bank “Tartu gives momentum to reusage of building materials”. October 10th, 2023, a press release about the study visit to Iceland – “From the land of ice and fire it is possible to learn how to monitor and successfully eradicate alien species!” 4. Website and social media Link to programme website Total number of page views in the reporting year https://kliimaministeerium.ee/en/mini... 14383 Number of posts published in Number of Link or account handle the reporting year followers Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kliimaministeerium 4 10876 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/keskkonnainvesteeringutekeskus?igsh=MW5mbGhxZ2... 3 637 Other https://www.facebook.com/KeskkonnainvesteeringuteKeskus 15 9754 5. Visuals 21 https://www.eealibrary.org/asset/41496/EE-CLIMATE- 0017_CIRCULAR%20RENOVATION%20IN%20TARTU?returnTo=%2F%3Fpage%3D2%26Country%3D109&breadcrumbType=menu Some more visuals are added under this link. All assets - EEA & Norway Grants media library (eealibrary.org) 22  Annex 3: Project summary and call details 1. Project summary Number Total Grant Amount budgeted to dpps (estimate) Total number of projects contracted 26 € 6,523,925 € 20,470 Number of pre-defined projects contracted 1 € 900,000 €0 Number of projects with a donor project partner 14 € 3,543,774 € 20,470 Number of projects with a donor project partner Norway 13 € 3,500,030 € 20,470 Number of projects with a donor project partner Iceland 2 € 88,744 €0 Number of projects with a donor project partner Liechtenstein 0 €0 €0 2. Call details Grant Number of Number of Submissi Number of Grant Grant Amount Outcome( Call amount applications projects Call title on application deman amount contracte s) amount applied approved for contracte deadline s received d% awarded d for funding d € € 177.07 € Circular Economy Pilot Projects Outcome 3 14/02/2022 5 1,593,63 3 3 € 900,000 900,000 % 900,000 5 Climate change mitigation and € € 184.47 € Outcome 2 26/04/2021 19 10 10 € 400,000 adaptation plans 400,000 737,888 % 400,000 € € € Climate change mitigation and 261.49 € Outcome 2 2,853,00 17/06/2022 18 7,460,20 8 2,824,87 9 adaption measures % 3,024,880 0 9 9 € € 99.91 € Ecosystem resilience increased Outcome 1 09/06/2021 2 2 2 € 799,245 800,000 799,245 % 799,245 Raising awareness on climate € € 99.96 € Outcome 2 14/03/2022 1 1 1 € 499,800 change” 500,000 499,800 % 499,800 23  Annex 4: Risk management Likelihood Consequence Risk description Risk score Planned response in 2024 (1-4) (1-4) Some of the targets are already exceeded, so the likelihood for realisation of risk has dropped. Programme objective will not be achieved PO has to give additional information and when 2 medium low 3 medium high 2.45 because the targets of indicators are not realistic needed initiate modifying the Programme Agreement if the targets of indicators will be not achieved. One of the Programme operator key persons has changed position. The other person is very experienced and can help to go through all the topics to achieve the same quality. Keeping Change of key persons on the programme level 2 medium low 2 medium low 2.00 another employee informed and engaged about Programme implementing activities (i.e. weekly EEA meetings of PO and POIA) will help keep the quality if there will be any changes of key persons. Programme activities are successfully in Substantial delays in time-schedule of the progress. Projects’ achievements are monitored programme lead to the risk of not finishing 2 medium low 2 medium low 2.00 (i.e. in weekly EEA meetings of PO and POIA). programme activities successfully Some activities with large procurements would need some additional time. Only two projects have had minor sums declared as non-eligible. The Implementing Agency (POIA) will keep advising and explaining the eligibility rules and procedures, on-the-spot Risk of financial corrections to projects regarding 2 medium low 2 medium low 2.00 checks, checking of procurement documents of non-eligible costs projects prior to procurement etc. POIA is closely in contact with the Project Promoters and Project Promoters are informed about the deadline of the Projects. 24  COVID-19 plays smaller roll with each year. The likelihood to disrupt project implementation is COVID-19 disrupts the implementation of smaller than e.g. a year before. PO organizes bilateral relations activities at both program and 2 medium low 1 low 1.41 on-site meetings with possibility to join these project level, which may lead to not achieving the online. Team meetings of PO and Implementing set targets of the indicators. Agency are held weekly online for practical reasons Inflation and higher prices is a threat to achieve 3 medium Mitigation of risk is not entirely possible. Setting 3 medium high 3.00 the indicators. high a timeframe for activities and consulting projects. Negotiations with parties, early planning, early Legal boundaries for implementing projects – 3 medium 2 medium low 2.45 coordination with institutions. It is not possible to getting permissions for activities high mitigate the risk entirely. Overall risk of not absorbing most financing and achieving most targets (1-4): 1.00 25 Annex 5: Monitoring plan Please note this Annex is uploaded separately and is not visible in this document. Please download and print separately if needed. Annex 6: Evaluation report Not Available 26 Annex 7: Agreement conditions Date of Description Type Tracking Fulfilled Description of measures taken fulfilment  The National Focal Point shall ensure that the Programme Operator ensures that project promoters: o Keep any buildings purchased, constructed, renovated or reconstructed under the project in their ownership for a period of at least 5 years following the completion of the project Not applicable yet. and continue to use such buildings for the benefit of Programme Operator will include mentioned the overall objectives of the Continuously conditions to the call texts, where General N/A project for the same period; tracking those are relevant. The conditions are covered in the working procedures and PO o Keep any buildings and Implementing Agency will take into purchased, constructed, account those. renovated or reconstructed under the project properly insured against losses such as fire, theft and other normally insurable incidents both during project implementation and for at least 5 years following the completion of the project; and 27 o Set aside appropriate resources for the maintenance of any buildings purchased, constructed, renovated or reconstructed under the project for at least 5 years following the completion of the project. The specific means for implementation of this obligation shall be specified in the project contract. 28