Open letter to the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2026

The letter argues that current EU biomethane policies, such as REPowerEU and REDIII, create structural incentives to maintain industrial livestock production by relying on manure as a feedstock. The authors claim this contradicts European Green Deal goals, which may require a 10-15% reduction in livestock production. They highlight risks to rural communities, including increased heavy goods vehicle traffic on narrow roads, water pollution, and methane leaks. The signatories call for an independent EU-wide impact assessment, a restriction of biomethane to hard-to-electrify industrial sectors using unavoidable waste, and a prioritisation of energy efficiency and agroecology.

• Current EU biomethane policies, including REPowerEU and the proposed CAP 2028-34 framework, rely heavily on livestock manure, with industry expectations that it will provide a third of total EU biomethane production by 2030. This creates incentives to maintain industrial livestock production, contradicting European Green Deal objectives that may require a 10-15% reduction in livestock production.
• Industrial-scale biogas developments impose significant burdens on rural communities, specifically through increased heavy goods vehicle traffic on narrow rural roads not designed for industrial volumes, and the concentration of profits among developers and large agribusinesses rather than local residents.
• The expansion of industrial biomethane risks environmental degradation, including water pollution, reduced air quality, and unreported methane leaks. Furthermore, current greenhouse gas accounting fails to reflect full lifecycle impacts, as manure is often treated as a by-product rather than a co-product of industrial livestock production.
• The authors recommend that the EU restrict biomethane use to a 'sustainable niche' for hard-to-electrify industrial sectors using unavoidable waste feedstocks, while prioritising energy efficiency (insulation, heat pumps, battery electric vehicles) and a transition to agroecology and plant-rich diets.

APA

Changing Markets Foundation (2026). Open letter to the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2026. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Open-letter-Irish-EU-Presidency.pdf

Chicago

Changing Markets Foundation. Open letter to the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2026. 2026. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Open-letter-Irish-EU-Presidency.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Changing Markets Foundation |title=Open letter to the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2026 |date=July 2026 |url=https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Open-letter-Irish-EU-Presidency.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{changingmarketsfoundation2026open, author = {{Changing Markets Foundation}}, title = {{Open letter to the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2026}}, publisher = {Changing Markets Foundation}, year = {2026}, month = jul, url = {https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Open-letter-Irish-EU-Presidency.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }