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Home > Finance and biodiversity

Finance and biodiversity

A clash is raging between nature and finance. On the one hand, the EU is striving to improve the deteriorating state of nature across Europe, with initiatives like the Biodiversity Strategy 2030 and the European Green Deal. On the other, massive amounts of public money continue to flow to infrastructure projects with devastating impacts on the natural world. Our work where finance meets the natural world advocates for adequate protection and restoration projects to ensure a green future for all. 

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Rivers and communities

The countries of the Energy Community Treaty have diverse energy mixes, but hydropower has traditionally played a strong role in many of them. Albania is almost completely reliant on dams for its domestic electricity generation, followed by Georgia with an average of 80 per cent of electricity generated by hydropower and Montenegro with an average of 55 per cent.

EU funds and biodiversity

In May 2020, EU leaders committed to an ambitious Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, outlining the clear need to act on biodiversity loss and address the failing health of nature.  

Discussions are now underway to agree on a new EU budget which will run from 2027 to 2034. This represents a golden opportunity to improve biodiversity spending to achieve the objectives of the biodiversity strategy in full.   

As well as addressing the biodiversity crisis, strategically supporting nature through EU funds is also one of the most effective ways to tackle climate change, while providing jobs and improved health at the same time.   

Yet, with many of the previous strategy’s objectives left unachieved, the pressure now mounts for this decade. Never before has there been so much potential – and urgency – to use EU funds and investments to address the biodiversity crisis. 

Related projects

Svaneti-panorama.jpg

Khudoni hydropower plant, Georgia

While a mountain community will have to be forced to resettle for this mega-project, the opaque ownership and weak taxation mean that benefits for Georgia are highly doubtful.


Large trees in front of an imposing mountain range and blue sky.

Hydropower development in Georgia

Georgia plans to build a huge number of dams. Yet with 85 percent of electricity needs satisfied and exports not being taxed, these plans will rather benefit private investors than offering sustainable development for Georgia.


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Latest news

The threat to the EU’s LIFE programme in the next budget

Bankwatch in the media | 26 June, 2025

The EU’s new priorities are at a major crossroads. The once cutting-edge European Green Deal is now ditched in favour of defence, security and competitiveness. These discussions are taking place against the backdrop of the much-anticipated future EU budget, the financial resource responsible for driving forward the EU’s goals.

Read more

Montenegro’s stop-start spatial plan set to greenlight harmful hydro projects

Blog entry | 24 June, 2025

Montenegro is touted as the lead EU accession candidate these days, but it’s unfortunately far from ready. The country’s hotly debated new national spatial plan is a case in point, plagued by delays, legal breaches, opacity and all-round low quality.

Read more

Landmark deal ends 28-year Bulgaria motorway dispute with agreement to protect Kresna Gorge

Press release | 16 June, 2025

28 years since the Struma motorway project in Bulgaria started, the Save Kresna Gorge coalition, Road Infrastructure Agency and Ministry of Environment and Water have reached a landmark agreement to implement the final section of the motorway outside the Kresna Gorge.

Read more

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Related publications

EU biodiversity credits – barking up the wrong tree

Briefing | 7 July, 2025 | Download PDF

This briefing provides an overview of biodiversity credits, offsets and nature markets, EU plans and issues with biodiversity credits.


LIFE for nature: Why Europe’s flagship environmental programme must remain part of the next EU budget

Report | 26 June, 2025 | Download PDF

Our publication showcases successful LIFE-funded projects from Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia and Slovenia. These inspiring examples demonstrate the programme’s positive impact on a wide range of ecosystems – and why it must continue to support nature in the next EU budget.  


Biodiversity funding in the EU’s next long-term budget: Opportunities and risks for national plans

Statement | 27 March, 2025 | Download PDF

This joint statement highlights the key opportunities and challenges for improving the design and deployment of biodiversity financing in the next EU budget, particularly if national plans are introduced.


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