Biodiversity restoration is no longer ring-fenced in the EU budget. Campaigners fear that means green funds will flow to industrial programs.
There’s a butterfly-shaped hole in Brussels’ plans for a new European budget structure.
The European Commission presented its controversial proposal to pool a number of existing funding programs into a single “Competitiveness Fund” last Wednesday, as part of a broader €1.816 trillion multiannual budget proposal that has angered EU countries and civil society groups alike.
Under the new plan, biodiversity goals have no earmarked funding at all — and will have to compete with the EU’s other environmental aims, including climate change, water security, the circular economy and pollution.
Some warn that unless clearly allocated, money will inevitably flow to industrial projects that fit with the Commission’s competitiveness agenda, leaving unprofitable but no-less-urgent environmental programs unfunded.
“[There’s a] real danger that biodiversity will be sidelined in favour of industrial priorities that may be presented as green investments,” said Ester Asin, director of the WWF European Policy Office.
The EU is already facing an estimated €37 billion annual biodiversity funding gap, according to the Commission.
In the proposed new budget structure, Europe’s existing €5.45 billion environmental funding program, known as LIFE, would merge with other funds dedicated to digitalization and defense into a €409 billion competitiveness cash pot. Money previously earmarked specifically for biodiversity has also now been merged with a catch-all “environment and climate” target.
The overall amount dedicated to funding green priorities will increase, the Commission argues, because 35 percent of the total budget — roughly €700 billion — will be dedicated to reaching the goals of the EU Green Deal.
Around 43 percent of the Competitiveness Fund will go toward climate and environmental objectives, the Commission said Wednesday, to contribute to this overarching target.
“This is a devastating blow for Europe’s nature and its citizens,” said Birdlife Europe’s Anouk Puymartin in a statement, warning that biodiversity is “losing its place in the EU budget with no dedicated funding or clear prioritisation.”
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Biodiversity restoration is no longer ring-fenced in the EU budget. Campaigners fear that means green funds will flow to industrial programs.
There’s a butterfly-shaped hole in Brussels’ plans for a new European budget structure.
The European Commission presented its controversial proposal to pool a number of existing funding programs into a single “Competitiveness Fund” last Wednesday, as part of a broader €1.816 trillion multiannual budget proposal that has angered EU countries and civil society groups alike.
Under the new plan, biodiversity goals have no earmarked funding at all — and will have to compete with the EU’s other environmental aims, including climate change, water security, the circular economy and pollution.
Some warn that unless clearly allocated, money will inevitably flow to industrial projects that fit with the Commission’s competitiveness agenda, leaving unprofitable but no-less-urgent environmental programs unfunded.
“[There’s a] real danger that biodiversity will be sidelined in favour of industrial priorities that may be presented as green investments,” said Ester Asin, director of the WWF European Policy Office.
The EU is already facing an estimated €37 billion annual biodiversity funding gap, according to the Commission.
In the proposed new budget structure, Europe’s existing €5.45 billion environmental funding program, known as LIFE, would merge with other funds dedicated to digitalization and defense into a €409 billion competitiveness cash pot. Money previously earmarked specifically for biodiversity has also now been merged with a catch-all “environment and climate” target.
The overall amount dedicated to funding green priorities will increase, the Commission argues, because 35 percent of the total budget — roughly €700 billion — will be dedicated to reaching the goals of the EU Green Deal.
Around 43 percent of the Competitiveness Fund will go toward climate and environmental objectives, the Commission said Wednesday, to contribute to this overarching target.
“This is a devastating blow for Europe’s nature and its citizens,” said Birdlife Europe’s Anouk Puymartin in a statement, warning that biodiversity is “losing its place in the EU budget with no dedicated funding or clear prioritisation.”