Brussels, 2 July 2026 — The plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions has adopted an opinion that reframes the role of rural and mountain communities in global climate and biodiversity governance.
For the first time in an official EU document, traditional farmers, shepherds and grassland managers are named as active biodiversity stewards whose practices deserve regulatory recognition and direct financial reward — not additional regulatory burdens.
What this opinion changes in EU policy
The EU will negotiate this autumn at two major global conferences: the UNFCCC COP31 on climate, taking place in Antalya in November, and the UN CBD COP17 on biodiversity, taking place in Yerevan in October.
The positions adopted in this opinion will directly shape what the EU commits to at those negotiations and how those commitments are translated into funding rules and administrative requirements at national and local level.
The adopted text establishes that place-based approaches — meaning solutions designed by and for the communities that live and work on the land — are the most effective tool for delivering on global climate and biodiversity goals.
What the text says and why it is new
The adopted text states that extensive livestock farming, pastoralism and grassland management practiced by traditional rural communities constitute proven biodiversity maintenance, and that these communities must receive financial reward rather than additional burdens.
It calls for direct access and simplified EU funding mechanisms to cover:
- prevention costs,
- livestock guarding,
- damage compensation,
- and rapid response in areas affected by large carnivores and other protected conflict species.
It also establishes that farmers, shepherds and grassland managers must be formally and equally involved in the design of national biodiversity strategies.
Less than 10 percent of international climate finance currently reaches local authorities, and the adopted opinion calls for this to be corrected in the next EU budget for 2028 to 2034.
What happens next in the EU institutional process
The European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU will use this adopted opinion as a reference in the ongoing MFF negotiations and in preparation for the autumn COP delegations.
Local and regional authorities across Europe now have a formally adopted EU reference document to support claims for priority beneficiary status in the next programming period and to push for simplified access to EU climate and biodiversity funding.
The principle that makes this durable
Those who have maintained biodiversity for generations must not be asked to bear the costs of policies they did not design and cannot influence.
Global agreements must be built with the communities that implement them, not imposed upon them.
This principle, now formally part of an adopted EU position, will serve as a reference point in every relevant negotiation for the next decade.