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Claudia Ciobanu
e-mail: claudia.ciobanu at bankwatch.org
mob: +48 514 399 727

 

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Regional funding negotiations - Green groups warn against last minute reintroduction of fossil fuel subsidies

May 16, 2013

With the final negotiations aimed at sealing agreement on the EU budget for 2014-20 now underway, environment NGOs are warning that a last minute amendment aimed at permitting EU subsidies for fossil fuels that are devastating for the climate must be rejected by negotiators of the future EU Cohesion Policy’s regional development funds.

No end in sight for EBRD coal finance

May 10, 2013

Istanbul – With the 2013 EBRD annual meetings underway and in spite of repeated commitments to sustainability, the bank is set to continue financing coal projects that will dangerously aggravate climate change.

Ukraine's Nukes Are in Breach of UN Convention

April 22, 2013

Kiev – Ukraine’s expansion of the lifetime of its old nuclear reactors is in breach of the UN Espoo Convention, ruled the body monitoring the implementation of this international agreement, because Kiev went ahead with the prolongation of the use of its old reactors without assessing the impact this may have on neighbouring countries.

European Parliament wants green energy, not coal, as part of Kosovo integration

April 19, 2013

The European Parliament yesterday blasted the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for considering financing of the planned USD 2 billion Kosova e Re lignite power plant near Pristina.

New report: Funding sustainable development in European regions - recommendations for the programming of EU funds in 10 CEE Countries

April 4, 2013

Today, CEE Bankwatch Network is launching a compilation of position papers which describe in detail how environmental NGOs across Central and Eastern Europe see the contribution of the next EU Budget (post 2014) to overcoming Europe's high energy and material consumption and to protecting our nature.

New CEE Bankwatch Network Study: “No Time to Waste: Cohesion Funds programming for a resource-efficient Europe”

March 27, 2013

Find the study here >>

The EU Resource Efficiency Flagship Initiative, the strategic framework setting out how the waste sector should look like in Europe by 2020, envisages that by the end of this decade waste in Europe will be managed as a resource we have to care for, hence landfilling has to be eliminated, incineration limited to non recyclable materials, and recycling turned into a truly economically viable option.

Never again Sostanj, NGOs warn European public banks after Slovenia debacle

March 20, 2013

After the EIB and the EBRD disbursed a promised 650 million euros for Slovenian lignite plant TES 6 on March 8, Focus Slovenia, CEE Bankwatch Network, and 96 other NGOs are today sending a letter to the two banks calling on them to never commit to such a misguided loan again.

EBRD finances lifetime expansion of Ukrainian nukes, but gets defensive about it

March 13, 2013

Kiev – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development approved yesterday a 300 million euros loan for the so-called “Safety Upgrade Programme” of Ukraine. In reality, the beneficiary company, state-owned Energoatom, will use the money to prolong the lifetime of 12 old nuclear reactors.

Europe's public banks disburse EUR 650 million to Sostanj coal plant despite ongoing corruption charges

March 8, 2013

Ljubljana – The European Investment Bank announced today [1] that it would pay the remaining EUR 440 million out of a EUR 550 million loan [2] for the construction of a new 600 megawatt lignite unit at Sostanj [3] in Slovenia, and that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development would follow suite with its parallel EUR 100 million loan.

Dreams of European Investment Bank Quitting Coal Go Up in Smoke - For Now

February 28, 2013

Climate activists take responsibility for fake press release, bizarre award ceremony

Brussels -- The European Investment Bank (EIB) president Werner Hoyer was forced to say this morning, during the EIB’s annual press conference, that an announcement that the bank would give up lending to coal was “pure nonsense”. And this, despite the fact that Hoyer repeatedly referred to the EIB as a frontrunner in the fight against climate change.

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

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