Press release

EU budget sacrifices nature, undermining long-term European security and competitiveness 

16 July 2025

ClientEarth lawyers have expressed deep concern over the European Commission’s newly released Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2028–2034, which proposes cuts to dedicated environmental spending.

These reductions – and the lack of meaningful environmental conditionality to EU spending - undermine the EU’s climate and biodiversity objectives and threaten the long-term security, resilience, and competitiveness of the European economy. 

The Commission’s proposals unveiled today place a strong emphasis on competitiveness of EU companies and security, without any guarantee that they will contribute to, or at the very least not harm, the green transition - which is fundamental to enhancing that competitiveness. 

This focus comes at the cost of slashing public funds dedicated to climate action and nature protection – such as the LIFE funding - or failing to commit to ocean protection with a European Ocean Fund - undermining Europe's stability and resilience. 

ClientEarth lawyer Stéphanie Nieuwbourg said: 

"This budget sends the wrong signal at the worst possible time. Europe faces mounting security crises linked to environmental degradation, yet the Commission’s proposal ignores our most essential tools to address them. Slashing climate, ocean and nature funding is not just shortsighted — it’s a direct threat to Europe’s future." 

“From climate-driven disasters and migration to pollution, overexploitation, droughts and heatwaves causing water shortages, along with declining agricultural yields and depleted fish stocks, ignoring environmental degradation comes at a high cost for both people and businesses.  

“Europe cannot be competitive, resilient or safe without a healthy environment. Climate action, biodiversity protection, and the fight against pollution are not a luxury - they are the foundation of lasting prosperity, peace and resilience.”  

Lawyers worry as well that the EU's push to fund false decarbonisation solutions such as low-carbon fuels, hydrogen-ready fossil gas infrastructure or carbon capture and storage (CCS) – will delay climate mitigation and cause additional environmental harm – while the Commission has not demonstrated how these solutions enhance the competitiveness of EU companies.  

As the European Parliament and the Council must now review and amend the proposals, ClientEarth calls on policymakers to: 

  • Require full, consistent and effective compliance with the ‘Do No Significant Harm’ (DNSH) principle to access EU funds to safeguard against environmentally harmful subsidies. 

  • Introduce horizontal, distinct and binding spending targets for climate and biodiversity backed by robust data collection, monitoring and enforcement. The next MFF must guarantee that public funds deliver measurable progress toward EU climate and biodiversity goals.  

  • Simplify access to funding for low impact actors - such as energy communities, small-scale farmers and fishers – who can play a key role in the transition. Reserve part of the budget specifically for low-impact fishers and agro-environmental measures.  

The Commission is expected to publish a second package of proposals on the EU budget in September. These proposals will then undergo the legislative process over the next two years. The next EU budget will take effect from 2028. 

ENDS

Notes to editors:

  • Read ClientEarth contribution to the next MFF public consultation. 

    On the costs of biodiversity loss 

    According to the IPBES Transformative Change Assessment over 50% of global GDP, valued around $58 trillion in 2023, is generated in sectors moderately to highly dependent on nature. The same report estimates up to $25 trillion in annual external costs from harmful sectors like fossil fuels, agriculture, and fisheries - costs not accounted for in decision-making but driving biodiversity loss, climate instability, and public health risks. According to the IPBES analysis, the financing gap to halt and reverse biodiversity loss is up to $1 trillion annually, while $1.7 trillion in public subsidies continue to incentivize environmental harm, distorting markets and intensifying pressure on natural resources. 

    In May 2020, the Commission itself stressed that over half of global GDP – approximately € 40 trillion euros depends on nature. It also warned that the world lost between €3.5 and €18.5 trillion annually in ecosystem services between 1997 and 2011, and a further €5.5 to €10.5 trillion per year due to land degradation.  

    Biodiversity loss undermines food security and resilience in the EU and globally. It leads to lower agricultural yields and fish catches, heightened vulnerability to floods and other natural disasters, and the disappearance of potential medical resources. Critically, the decline of biodiversity both drives and is exacerbated by climate change. 

About ClientEarth

ClientEarth is a non-profit organisation that uses the law to create systemic change that protects the Earth for – and with – its inhabitants. We are tackling climate change, protecting nature and stopping pollution, with partners and citizens around the globe. We hold industry and governments to account and defend everyone’s right to a healthy world. ClientEarth teams in Europe, Asia and the USA work to shape, implement and enforce the law, to build a future for our planet in which people and nature can thrive together.