In an open letter, initiated by Scientists for Future Austria, more than 1,600 scientists from across Europe are calling on the European Commission to radically increase funding for projects promoting biodiversity.
At a press conference on 26 June, Carla Freund, Project Officer for Biodiversity at IIASA, and Prof. Franz Essl from the Department of Ecosystem Management, Climate and Biodiversity at the University of Vienna explained the significance of the issue:
As the EU moves into the final stages of drafting the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), Freund said, the question of how to fund a sustainable and secure future is more urgent than ever. The loss of biodiversity poses not only an existential threat to our ecosystems, but also to Europe's long-term competitiveness, food security, and resilience to crises. Yet despite growing awareness, biodiversity funding remains significantly underrepresented in current discussions on the Multiannual Financial Framework.
The European Commission is expected to publish an initial draft of the Multiannual Financial Framework in just a few weeks, on 16 July 2025. This document sets out how the European Union will deploy its considerable resources for the period 2028–2034. As such, this financial plan is of critical importance for progress in halting biodiversity loss and tackling climate change. Without a significant increase in funding for nature restoration and biodiversity protection, the EU will not meet its Green Deal targets or its broader environmental commitments.
The open letter initiated by Scientists for Future Austria, which has so far been signed by more than 1,600 scientists, researchers, and academics, underlines that biodiversity must be treated as the green foundation of our society and economy. Even in a context increasingly shaped by concerns about economic competitiveness and geopolitical stability, investment in nature is an indispensable basis for long-term resilience, as the costs of inaction are many times greater than the costs of halting biodiversity loss.
Read more at: scientists4future.at
