EU budget talks: Europe is counting the cost of the climate crisis. Its budget doesn’t reflect it.
This week, European leaders gather for the European Council to discuss the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). One thing is conspicuously absent from the agenda: a guarantee that nature protection and restoration will be funded. At the scale of a multi-year, multi-trillion euro budget, this absence speaks volumes.
There is no ring-fenced funding for nature. No dedicated budget for the LIFE programme. No requirement that investment plans reflect the financing needs of National Nature Restoration Plans, despite Member States currently preparing exactly those plans. Without explicit protection, experience shows environmental spending gets crowded out. Every euro that does not go to nature is a euro invested in deepening the crisis.
The cost of inaction is massive. Climate and weather extremes cost Europe over €208 billion between 2021 and 2024. The European Commission estimates a biodiversity financing gap of €37.4 billion annually. Since the war in Iran began, Member States have paid an extra €62 billion in energy costs. That is precisely the kind of shock that healthy ecosystems help buffer. The logic for investing in nature is obvious. The political will to do so, apparently, is not.
Anouk Puymartin, Head of Policy, BirdLife Europe comments:
“Europe’s next budget must be designed for the challenges of the 21st century. EU leaders must ensure that nature protection and restoration are treated as essential investments in Europe’s resilience, security and future prosperity. This is a once-in-a-generation budget decision. Getting it wrong will cost far more than getting it right.”
Red-legged Partridge (Alectoris rufa) by Yves Adams/Vilda
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