The following section examines three of Ursula von der Leyen’s most significant environmental policies: Fit for 55, the Adaptation Strategy, and the Nature Restoration Law. These policies are part of a broader environmental framework, namely the European Green Deal. While each policy refers to a different challenge, they all reflect von der Leyen’s broader objective of modernising the economy by implementing climate policies. This section highlights that Ursula von der Leyen pursued climate leadership to both address environmental concerns and strengthen the economy.

Fit for 55

In the April 2019 Eurobarometer, citizens were questioned on what they deemed most relevant for the European Parliament electoral campaign. ‘Combating climate change and protecting the environment’ was voted among the top concerns, as the response rose by 3 percentage points from the survey conducted the prior year. This was sparked by the challenges outlined in the first section of this report, namely heat stress, extreme weather events, and threats to ecosystems and biodiversity. In order to address this, von der Leyen introduced the Green Deal, which was a long-term promise that initially lacked legislation. The Fit for 55 legislative package was proposed and gradually adopted as an attempt to implement the European Green Deal. The package contains 15 proposals and aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels and achieve climate neutrality by 2050.

1. EU Emissions Trading System (ETS): a cap-and-trade system that sets an annual cap on GHG for companies, which receive emission allowances, either for free or through an auction. Free allowances are granted to EU industries at high risk of carbon leakage, while auctioning applies to sectors that can pass carbon costs directly onto the consumers.
2. EU Emissions Trading System 2 (ETS2): extends this facility to the buildings and transport sectors, with no free allowances granted.
3. Social Climate Fund: provides financial support to vulnerable households, transport users, and micro-enterprises throughout the green transition.
4. Effort Sharing Regulation: sets binding reduction targets for member states in sectors not addressed by ETS. 
5. Regulation on the Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry sector: requires countries to increase carbon absorption through forests and soil by reducing deforestation and improving land management.
6. CO₂ emissions standards for cars and vans: mandates that all new cars and vans sold in the EU must be zero emission by 2035.
7. Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism: imposes a carbon tax on certain imported goods, such as iron and steel, cement, fertilisers, aluminium, electricity, and hydrogen.
8. Renewable Energy Directive: increases the use of renewable energy by establishing a binding target for member states.
9. Energy Efficiency Directive: requires member states to reduce energy consumption.
10. Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation: ensures that there are sufficient recharging and refuelling stations.
11. ReFuel EU Aviation Regulation: requires airlines to use cleaner fuel.
12. FuelEU Maritime Regulation: requires ships to use cleaner fuel.
13. Energy Performance of Buildings Directive: aims to transform buildings into zero-emission buildings.
14. Updated EU rules to decarbonise gas markets and promote hydrogen: it regulates the shift from natural gas to renewable and low-carbon gases. 
15. EU Methane Regulation for the energy sector: targets the reduction of methane emissions in the energy sector. 

Several methods of funding have been made available under this framework. The most prominent one is the ETS where member states are expected to allocate 100% of their emission trading revenues toward climate action. This works as such: the national governments auction allowances to companies, which grants them the right to emit GHG. The money national governments receive by auctioning allowances is expected to be spent on climate objectives such as renewable energy projects and clean transportation. 

To access EU funding, the Fit for 55 package requires member states to adopt national legislation in order to meet the proposed binding targets. A key example of this is the Social Climate Fund, which was created to support vulnerable groups affected by the green transition. It provides up to €86.7 billion of funding to member states for the 2026-2032 period while also requiring a 25% national contribution. In order to receive funding the European Commission is requiring the member states to submit their national plans first. As of now, several countries are undergoing the submission assessment phase, in which the plans are either approved or rejected by the European Commission. Two countries, namely Sweden and Lithuania, have been successful in gaining the Commission’s approval. Sweden’s plan commits to mobilising €530 million for 115,500 households, while Lithuania aims to allocate €880 million for 74,000 households, 74,000 transport users, and 3,200 micro-enterprises.

Adaptation Strategy

When global temperatures reached the highest levels on record, and the continent experienced a rise in extreme weather events, it became apparent to Ursula von der Leyen that solely regulating GHG emissions was no longer sufficient. As a consequence, adaptation efforts became increasingly necessary, reflecting that mitigation alone could no longer protect societies. The Adaptation Strategy was adopted in 2021 and acknowledges that certain climate changes are unavoidable and therefore action towards a climate-resilient Europe needs to be taken. The policy features four key objectives:

• ‘Smarter adaptation’ recognises the necessity of better climate data collection. The main tool used is the Climate-ADAPT Knowledge platform, which provides data on climate-related risks. Other EU research and data programmes used are Copernicus, Horizon Europe, Digital Europe, and EMODnet. 
• ‘Faster adaptation’ calls for the quicker development of solutions in order to reduce risks. One of the instruments used is the EU Taxonomy, which classifies economic activities based on how environmentally sustainable they are. Moreover, the Commission aims to implement several Horizon Europe Missions, including ‘Adaptation to Climate Change’. The Mission’s goal is to support more than 150 European regions in becoming climate-resilient by helping them identify challenges and developing the appropriate tools to address them. 
• ‘Systemic adaptation’ refers to the integration of climate resilience across sectors, and its main priority is mainstreaming adaptation into macro-fiscal policies, alongside nature-based solutions and local adaptation action. This systemic approach is a cross-sectoral response that seeks to embed climate resilience into financial markets, urban planning, public health, infrastructure, and ecosystems. 
• ‘International action’ recognises that climate change is an international threat that needs to be addressed through global cooperation. The EU plans to increase international financing and broaden political engagement on adaptation measures with partner countries.

The Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 guarantees that at least 25% of the European budget is spent on climate action. Unlike the Social Climate Fund, the Adaptation Strategy does not establish a dedicated funding instrument. Instead, it draws funding from existing EU funds such as the Recovery and Resilience Facility, Horizon Europe, and the LIFE Programme, particularly the Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation sub-programme. Beyond public funding, the strategy also seeks to mobilise private investment by integrating climate risks into financial decision-making. The European Investment Bank further supports adaptation by providing loans for climate-resilient projects. In 2022, subnational governments invested approximately €8.3 billion in climate adaptation.

The Adaptation Strategy’s newest framework includes an open public consultation, allowing citizens, businesses, and public authorities to provide feedback on adaptation efforts. This approach improves the legitimacy of the policy by ensuring that measures better reflect local needs. Political parties within the European Parliament played an influential role in shaping the policy by demanding more ambitious adaptation commitments. In its 2020 resolution, Parliament demanded the development of a new climate adaptation strategy, among other requirements. Support came from the S&D, Renew Europe, the Greens, and a majority of the EPP. 

The strategy provides further political legitimacy for Ursula von der Leyen, as it addresses climate change beyond mitigation and reinforces her position as a leading figure in shaping the EU’s climate agenda. Additionally, it directly tackles heat stress and extreme weather events, major concerns that progressively worsened over the past decade. This signals a commitment to safeguard citizens from climate risks, extending past the economic goals reinforced through the Fit for 55 agenda. 

Nature Restoration Law

As societies entered an era of intensive production and consumption, in which consumption and disposal have come to dominate over reuse and recycling, biodiversity loss turned into an extreme risk for human well-being. Similarly, the Earth is experiencing a reduction in forested land due to widespread deforestation, alongside a decline in species populations. The EU recognised that in order to overcome these threats, urgent action must be taken.

The Nature Restoration Law, proposed in 2022 and formally adopted in 2024, is the first law of its kind that encompasses the whole continent and directly addresses the aforementioned climatic challenges. The regulation requires member states to implement restoration measures on at least 20% of EU land and sea areas by 2030, with the broader goal of restoring all ecosystems in need by 2050. It targets habitats like wetlands, rivers, forests, and marine ecosystems, including legally binding targets such as restoring biodiverse habitats, restoring 25,000 km of free-flowing rivers by 2030, maintaining urban green space, and reversing pollinator population decline. In the Danube delta, Europe’s largest wetland, restoration efforts, such as reintroducing native grazing animals, reduced wildfire and flood risks. 

Although the regulation sets binding targets, national governments are free to determine how they implement it. Member states are required to develop and submit a national restoration plan by 1 September 2026; however, exact methods vary by country due to different restoration needs and environmental conditions. To assist member states in drafting their plans, the Commission established a uniform format through ‘Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/912’. Member states are expected to outline basic information, the national approach to meeting restoration targets and fulfilling obligations by article, for implementation. Submission will be made through Reportnet 3, the EEA platform for reporting environmental data.

The Multiannual Financial Framework (2021-2027) allocated a budget of €114 billion for biodiversity. As with the Adaptation Strategy, the Nature Restoration Law does not establish a dedicated funding instrument, but instead draws funds from existing EU funding mechanisms, such as LIFE, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF), Cohesion Policy funds, Horizon Europe, and InvestEU. Moreover, several member states have established dedicated funding. For example, Spain created the ‘Fund for Ecological Restoration and Resilience’.

Before the law was implemented, in the 2010-2020 period, 8% of the funding of restoration projects came from private sources, amounting to an estimated €6.5 million per year. This underscores the fact that the private sector already invested in restoration efforts, when appropriate incentives were in place. However, this contribution remains significantly below what is needed.

Furthermore, an important aspect of the financial implications of this regulation was stated by the European Commission, which claimed that “Every euro invested into nature restoration adds €4 to €38 in benefits”. This reflects the estimated economic cost of failing to restore ecosystems.

IE x RAIA Summer Research Programme: Ursula von der Leyen Profile

This article is an excerpt from a report on Ursula von der Leyen produced as part of a RAIA research programme on climate leaders. For a full picture of von der Leyen’s climate leadership, including the sources, read the full report. This project was fully financed by IE University’s School of Politics, Economics and Global Affairs and School of Science and Technology.

Authors: Daria Holtea, Bianca Albu & Ariadna Alvarenga

Editor: Dario Hasenstab

Project Lead: Dario Hasenstab