EU Green Week will focus this year on the “business case for nature”, with organisers saying the event will look at how a nature-positive economy can support Europe’s prosperity, resilience and competitiveness.
The conference, organised by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Environment on 3-4 June 2026, will examine ways nature can support citizens’ prosperity and quality of life and feature discussions intended to raise the topic’s political profile, the Commission informed on Friday.
Sessions will bring together policymakers, investors, urban planners, businesses, naturalists, farmers and civil society groups, with planned topics including sustainable farming models, soil-health innovations, greening cities and approaches to “reverse rural flight.”
The programme will include panel discussions, a movie night and a startup–investor matchmaking event, with participant registration due to open in April.
Startup–investor marketplace and partner events
For the first time at Green Week, start-ups, projects and small and medium-sized enterprises — businesses with up to 250 employees — working on nature-based solutions and nature-related technologies will be able to join a marketplace designed to connect them with potential investors, DG Environment said.
A separate invitation for the matchmaking event will be issued later, and interested parties have been asked to contact ENV-Greenweek@ec.europa.eu for more information.
Green Week partner events are also planned outside Brussels, with applications open from 2 to 20 March, while guidance for activities such as debates, workshops, seminars and project visits is expected to be published on the Green Week website in early February.
EU Green Week has been held for 26 years and is the European Commission’s annual environmental conference, with previous editions covering themes including water resilience in 2024 and the circular economy planned for 2025, DG Environment said.
