MarInnLeg Report: Environmental NGOs, funded by tech and energy giants

Some of the environmental non-governmental organizations active in the aquatic sector appear to be indirectly funded by giant technology and fossil fuel companies, actors seemingly unrelated to the marine environment, but with direct interests in ocean areas through activities such as deep-sea mining, claims the MarInnLeg foundation in its report "Diagnostics of Blue Interest Groups”, recently presented in the European Parliament during the event "Financing Civil Society Actors in the Field of Fisheries: Who Pays the Bill?”, hosted by the EPP political group.

The document, based on public data, investigates the structure and influence of interest groups that shape the European Union's fisheries policies, with the aim of clarifying who they represent, what interests they promote and what financial resources they manage. The document raises important questions about the transparency of funding sources and the potential influence of geopolitical interests within conservative-oriented organizations.

The analysis starts from an essential premise: transparency is vital in such a sensitive and contested area as European marine policies. In this sense, the report complements and confirms the findings recently formulated by the European Court of Auditors in Special Report 11/2025 on the transparency of European funding to NGOs. Both documents point to the existence of persistent gaps in transparency and financial traceability, with serious implications for the understanding and control of major monetary flows that fuel public influence actions in the name of protecting the marine environment.

While industry-based interest groups, such as fisheries associations or value chain organisations, generally have clear and identifiable sources of funding, a number of environmental NGOs operating at EU level exhibit high levels of financial opacity, making it difficult to objectively assess the real agendas behind their campaigns. According to the source cited, among the most worrying aspects is the use of legal mechanisms such as donor-advised funds or donor-restricted funds, models inspired by practices in the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany. These instruments allow the channelling of colossal sums, often in the hundreds of millions of dollars, without the obligation to make public the ultimate purposes or the timetable for the use of the funds, while also offering considerable tax benefits. The report draws attention to the difficulty of identifying not only the source of funds supporting certain lobbying actions, but also the underlying motivations behind them. While the interests of fisheries stakeholders are transparent and geared towards economic, social and environmental sustainability, the intentions of some environmental NGOs remain ambiguous. Particularly alarming is the fact that some of these organizations appear to be indirectly funded by giant technology and fossil fuel companies, which have direct interests in ocean areas through activities such as deep-sea mining. This sector, crucial for the extraction of essential minerals for the high-tech industry, inevitably comes into conflict with traditional uses of marine spaces, such as fishing. In this complex landscape, the report warns that the debate is no longer limited to transparency and governance. A reality is emerging in which geopolitical strategies and private economic interests are increasingly converging on maritime spaces, transforming ecological stakes into instruments of non-transparent global agendas. Therefore, fishermen's associations are calling for verification of donations received by environmental NGOs from large non-EU foundations or philanthropic organizations, drawing attention to the risk that these may condition European policies through campaigns against certain fishing methods or by promoting marine areas prohibited from economic activities. Fishermen are calling on the European Commission, according to the cited source, to adopt stronger protection mechanisms, capable of identifying the real interests behind this funding and ensuring clear and transparent recognition of any non-European agendas in the EU policy-making process. The report prepared by the MarInnLeg foundation brings to light a complicated network of funding, motivations and influences that question the legitimacy and balance in defining the future of European fisheries. Without concrete measures, the risk that marine policies will be hijacked by hidden foreign or commercial interests becomes a real threat, with direct consequences for fishing coast communities , marine biodiversity and the economic security of the Union.