Bankwatch blog

Energy efficiency becoming more central to future EU spending in the Czech Republic - thanks to NGO calls

May 21, 2013
| by Ondrej Pasek

Energy efficiency has now become a priority for EU funding in the Czech Republic for the forthcoming 2014-2020 budgetary period.

Cohesion Policy, Czech Republic, energy efficiency, EU funds, Operational Programme, priority, success
EU Funds
Energy & climate, Resource efficiency
Divesting from coal is not ideology but climate science - a reminder for the EBRD

May 14, 2013
| by Fidanka Bacheva-McGrath

The energy director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has made astonishing statements about coal investments, prompting Bankwatch's EBRD campaign team to react.

climate, climate action, climate science, coal, EBRD annual meeting, energypolicy, fossil fuels, guardian, Puliti
EBRD
Energy & climate
[Campaign update] EBRD still not withdrawing from damaging Ombla hydropower project, NGOs call on bank to heed new evidence

May 13, 2013
| by Pippa Gallop

Despite having a slew of good reasons not to support the damaging Ombla hydropower plan in Croatia, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development still didn't confirm during recent meetings that it would withdraw from the project.

biodiversity, Croatia, EBRD, hydropower, Ombla
EBRD
Other harmful projects
Fair treatment is a long time coming at Serbia's Kolubara lignite mine

May 13, 2013
| by Nikola Perusic

People from the Kolubara mine basin in Serbia have many stories to tell about the hardships they face due to the lignite mining operations. Serbian Bankwatcher Nikola Perusic adds his account to two stories in the guardian and in Bankwatch Mail 56.

coal, energypolicy, Kolubara, mining, resettlement, water
EBRD
Energy & climate, Social & economic impacts, Other harmful projects
Public action: Croatian coal power plant besieged by 680 bodies

May 10, 2013
| by Sven Haertig-Tokarz

Yesterday, Green Action/Zelena Akcija, Greenpeace and Green Istria staged a spooky public action to raise attention for the findings of a new study that predicts approximately 17 early deaths annually due to the planned new 500 MW unit at the Plomin coal power plant in Croatia.

coal, Croatia, health, Plomin, protest, public action, study
EBRD
Energy & climate
Guest post: Development banks and the Arab Spring, new report takes stock

May 6, 2013
| by Berber Verpoest

A new report takes a critical look at the engagement of European development banks in Egypt after the popular uprisings in the Middle East and North African region. This article appeared originally on the Counter Balance blog and has been shortened and slightly edited.

Arab Sping, dictatorships, Egypt, employment, human rights, PPP, public-private partnerships
EBRD, EIB, World Bank Group
Social & economic impacts
Guest post: New studies fail to prove that the Ombla hydroplant is fit for EBRD financing

April 22, 2013
| by Jagoda Munic

The EBRD's involvement in the Ombla hydropower plant project has from the start been a story of insufficient scrutiny and cutting procedural corners, followed by an attempt to patch things up by commissioning a belated nature impact assessment. The assessment highlights the Ombla area's natural importance and captures some of the harm that would be done by the dam, but fails to draw the right conclusions, says Jagoda Munic, President of Friends of the Earth International and Biodiversity Programme Co-ordinator at Zelena akcija/Friends of the Earth Croatia.

biodiversity, Croatia, endemic species, hydropower, Ombla, Vilina Cave
EBRD
Other harmful projects
EBRD with disastrous start in Kosovo, European Parliament not amused

April 19, 2013
| by Ionut Apostol

The European Parliament yesterday chastised the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for its explicit interest in financing a new lignite-fired power plant in Kosovo. NGOs hope the bank will pay more attention to the Parliament than it did to civil society and energy experts so far.

coal, EBRD, energy, energy efficiency, energypolicy, fossil fuels, Kosovo, lignite
EBRD
Energy & climate
[Campaign update] Arctic Sunrise joins campaign against coal power plant in Croatia

April 17, 2013
| by Sven Haertig-Tokarz

Yesterday Greenpeace's legendary ship Arctic Sunrise joined in the campaign against Plomin C, a coal-fired power plant in Croatia.

Arctic Sunrise, coal, Croatia, energypolicy, fossil fuels, Greenpeace, public action
EBRD
Energy & climate
[Campaign update] New bills for green energy in Serbia

April 16, 2013
| by Nikola Perusic

By investing in Serbian lignite, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development cements the rigid structure of the country’s electricity market. Investing in energy efficiency instead could help reduce energy bills and free up further renewables funding.

coal, consumers, EBRD, electricity, Kolubara, lignite, price, Serbia
EBRD
Energy & climate

Two European public banks are currently reviewing their energy lending policies. We call for an end to coal subsidies.

Data, demands and expert comments

 

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EBRD
EIB
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