Highlights
[Highlight] Rusty reasoning: groups challenge EIB to justify the latest ArcelorMittal public millions
(March 11, 2010)
In spite of some alarming headlines, ArcelorMittal seems to be navigating its way quite nicely through the economic downturn. The most recent results for the world's largest steel company – for the last quarter of 2009 – show sales of USD 18.6 billion and a profit of USD 1.1 billion. And Lakshmi Mittal, CEO of the company, has just been confirmed as the world's fifth richest man in 2010. On top of this, the UK-based NGO Sandbag has identified that ArcelorMittal is set to become the largest beneficiary of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme – by 2012 the steel giant will have received around 80 million permits which it does not need, and if it sells these permits it will make over GBP 1 billion in windfall profits.
On 21 October 2009 the European Investment Bank’s board of directors approved a loan to ArcelorMittal worth EUR 250 million for a research and development programme said to be all about bringing environmental added value to the company's European operations. The company has a very chequered history over the last ten years in its implementation of environmental improvement schemes that have been financed by over half a billion dollars in public loans.
Yet leaving the important environmental issues to one side, couldn't a company the size of ArcelorMittal be expected to either fund the project out of its own resources or be able to access commercial loans, leaving advantageous EIB funding to companies more in need? And isn't the EIB supposed to only give loans to finance those projects that cannot be entirely financed by the various means available in European member states?
Frustrated by their dealings with the EIB on these matters, Bankwatch, ClientEarth and Global Action on ArcelorMittal have this week lodged a formal complaint with the Secretary General of the EIB that questions the rigour and ultimate validity of the bank's pre-loan assessment. Read it here and consider the magnetic pull ArcelorMittal seems to have towards public money.
On 21 October 2009 the European Investment Bank’s board of directors approved a loan to ArcelorMittal worth EUR 250 million for a research and development programme said to be all about bringing environmental added value to the company's European operations. The company has a very chequered history over the last ten years in its implementation of environmental improvement schemes that have been financed by over half a billion dollars in public loans.
Yet leaving the important environmental issues to one side, couldn't a company the size of ArcelorMittal be expected to either fund the project out of its own resources or be able to access commercial loans, leaving advantageous EIB funding to companies more in need? And isn't the EIB supposed to only give loans to finance those projects that cannot be entirely financed by the various means available in European member states?
Frustrated by their dealings with the EIB on these matters, Bankwatch, ClientEarth and Global Action on ArcelorMittal have this week lodged a formal complaint with the Secretary General of the EIB that questions the rigour and ultimate validity of the bank's pre-loan assessment. Read it here and consider the magnetic pull ArcelorMittal seems to have towards public money.
[Highlight] Having trouble with a nightmare EU funded project? Get inspired by the Save the Kresna Gorge campaign
(March 4, 2010)
Since 1997, and spearheaded by Bankwatch campaigners and member groups in Bulgaria working together with local communities, the Save the Kresna Gorge campaign has fought to prevent the construction of the Struma motorway through the stunning Kresna Gorge, a Natura 2000 site south of Sofia rich in biodiversity and protected habitats. With EU money potentially involved in the route's construction, the campaign has worked to ensure the development of alternative acceptable routes outside the gorge site.
This new audio-visual slideshow documents the 13 years of the campaign, arriving at the current tunnel compromise that has been brokered - one that should see the Kresna gorge being saved from an invasion of road-building. This feature on such a long-running but inspirational campaign comes as Bankwatch launches a new website - www.sustainableeufunds.org - dedicated to providing support for NGOs from across Europe that are working to ensure sustainable use of the EU funds. As the Kresna case demonstrates, even when you think the worst has been averted, major infrastructure developers may potentially have other ideas in mind, especially when millions of euros of public money are involved.
The new website aims to keep groups working on EU funds cases updated on the latest trends, campaign tactics and information vital to successful advocacy efforts. And also - despite so much negative evidence - to present what can and does make a good EU funded project.
This new audio-visual slideshow documents the 13 years of the campaign, arriving at the current tunnel compromise that has been brokered - one that should see the Kresna gorge being saved from an invasion of road-building. This feature on such a long-running but inspirational campaign comes as Bankwatch launches a new website - www.sustainableeufunds.org - dedicated to providing support for NGOs from across Europe that are working to ensure sustainable use of the EU funds. As the Kresna case demonstrates, even when you think the worst has been averted, major infrastructure developers may potentially have other ideas in mind, especially when millions of euros of public money are involved.
The new website aims to keep groups working on EU funds cases updated on the latest trends, campaign tactics and information vital to successful advocacy efforts. And also - despite so much negative evidence - to present what can and does make a good EU funded project.
[Highlight] New blog on Gazela resettlement provides evidence of the challenges ahead
(February 8, 2010)
As a result of plans to renovate the Gazela Bridge over the River Sava in Belgrade, on 31 August 2009 the predominantly Roma inhabitants of the informal Gazela settlement were physically resettled. In total, 114 families considered to be from Belgrade were moved to temporary container accommodation in four locations at the outer edges of Belgrade, and 64 families were transported to their towns of origin in southern Serbia.
While the physical conditions have improved for families resettled near Belgrade - they are now living in container accommodation rather than shacks cobbled together from whatever they could find - large question marks remain over the plans for long-term accommodation and employment and the fate of those transported to southern Serbia.
Our blog 'Out of sight' aims to document how the resettled families are getting on in their new locations, what still needs to be improved in this resettlement project, and what should be done differently in future projects.
While the physical conditions have improved for families resettled near Belgrade - they are now living in container accommodation rather than shacks cobbled together from whatever they could find - large question marks remain over the plans for long-term accommodation and employment and the fate of those transported to southern Serbia.
Our blog 'Out of sight' aims to document how the resettled families are getting on in their new locations, what still needs to be improved in this resettlement project, and what should be done differently in future projects.
[Highlight] Smoke, carbon and mirrors - the EIB responds to Bankwatch's energy lending report
(January 15, 2010)
The European Investment Bank has responded to Bankwatch's report Change the lending, not the climate that was released in the lead-up to the ill-fated Copenhagen climate talks, and the bank has asked us “for the sake of transparency” to publish its response, which we are doing.
We're also publishing the EIB letter with some responses of our own here, rebutting the bank’s claims of inaccuracies in our report and petition. While there was something rotten in the state of Denmark at the end of last year, there is something decidedly puzzling going on in Luxembourg: the EIB is starting to make very impressive strides forward with its renewable energy lending, but these strides are taking place inside a fossil fuel hole. And that's a hole that the EIB doesn't want to talk about, though it seems intent on digging that hole a bit deeper.
We're also publishing the EIB letter with some responses of our own here, rebutting the bank’s claims of inaccuracies in our report and petition. While there was something rotten in the state of Denmark at the end of last year, there is something decidedly puzzling going on in Luxembourg: the EIB is starting to make very impressive strides forward with its renewable energy lending, but these strides are taking place inside a fossil fuel hole. And that's a hole that the EIB doesn't want to talk about, though it seems intent on digging that hole a bit deeper.
[Highlight] Better late than never – Release of environmental consent for the Augustow bypass confirms that the Rospuda Valley is safe
(January 7, 2010)
On December 29, the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Bialystok, Poland released the environmental consent for the Augustow bypass. The consent confirms that the road, part of the new Via Baltica corridor, will bypass the Augustow Primeval Forest Natura 2000 site and the magnificent Rospuda Valley.
This news should finally bring an end to a long-running saga that has seen Poland clash with the European Commisson over the potential abuse of EU environmental law which, as a result, has led to increased safety risks and inconvenience for the residents of Augustow that still have to contend with large volumes of heavy goods vehicles traversing the north-east Polish town.
As Malgorzata Gorska, IBA Casework Officer for the Polish Society for the Protection of Birds (one of the groups with whom Bankwatch has intensively collaborated on the case) points out: “As a result of mistakes made by previous authorities and the necessity of a new alternative analysis, the environmental consent for the Augustow bypass is three years late. Ensuring these sensible changes to the Via Baltica routing has taken us six years. Everything costs Poland too much energy and time.”
The Augustow bypass stands, then, as a textbook bad example of how reckless disregard for the natural environment - and for the EU environmental law designed to protect it - is in nobody's best interest. The case should serve as a startling wake-up call to infrastructure developers across central and eastern Europe. Read on for more details about how sense has finally won out on the routing of the bypass.
This news should finally bring an end to a long-running saga that has seen Poland clash with the European Commisson over the potential abuse of EU environmental law which, as a result, has led to increased safety risks and inconvenience for the residents of Augustow that still have to contend with large volumes of heavy goods vehicles traversing the north-east Polish town.
As Malgorzata Gorska, IBA Casework Officer for the Polish Society for the Protection of Birds (one of the groups with whom Bankwatch has intensively collaborated on the case) points out: “As a result of mistakes made by previous authorities and the necessity of a new alternative analysis, the environmental consent for the Augustow bypass is three years late. Ensuring these sensible changes to the Via Baltica routing has taken us six years. Everything costs Poland too much energy and time.”
The Augustow bypass stands, then, as a textbook bad example of how reckless disregard for the natural environment - and for the EU environmental law designed to protect it - is in nobody's best interest. The case should serve as a startling wake-up call to infrastructure developers across central and eastern Europe. Read on for more details about how sense has finally won out on the routing of the bypass.
[Highlight] New ban on cyanide mining in Hungary gives hope across the region
(December 22, 2009)
A ban on all cyanide-based mining technologies on Hungarian territory that was passed by 356 votes in favour to one vote against in Hungary's parliament earlier this month has strengthened hopes of other national bans - even a Europe-wide ban - ahead of the tenth anniversary of the Baia Mare disaster next month.
The Baia Mare spill involved millions of gallons of polluted liquid and waste containing around 100 tonnes of cyanide and various heavy metals that travelled through the rivers of Romania, Hungary and Yugoslavia, wreaking major health and economic damage, eventually reaching the major waterway of the Danube.
A new Bankwatch report on the impacts of EBRD-financed gold mining projects recommends the bank “not to finance cyanide projects in countries with ineffective regulation, including capacities for handling large scale accidents.” When it comes to cyanide use, the question remains: is any country in central and eastern Europe equipped to deal with this poison?
The new Bankwatch video clip above presents the effects of mining in the Armenian village of Geganush and calls on the EBRD to do more to address pollution, resettlement and compensation issues for affected communities such as Geganush.
The Baia Mare spill involved millions of gallons of polluted liquid and waste containing around 100 tonnes of cyanide and various heavy metals that travelled through the rivers of Romania, Hungary and Yugoslavia, wreaking major health and economic damage, eventually reaching the major waterway of the Danube.
A new Bankwatch report on the impacts of EBRD-financed gold mining projects recommends the bank “not to finance cyanide projects in countries with ineffective regulation, including capacities for handling large scale accidents.” When it comes to cyanide use, the question remains: is any country in central and eastern Europe equipped to deal with this poison?
The new Bankwatch video clip above presents the effects of mining in the Armenian village of Geganush and calls on the EBRD to do more to address pollution, resettlement and compensation issues for affected communities such as Geganush.
[Highlight] Change the lending, not the climate
(December 2, 2009)
Bankwatch's new report on the EIB's fossil-heavy energy lending between 2002 and 2008 comes one week before the crunch global climate talks in Copenhagen, in preparation for which the international financial institutions have been flexing their rhetorical muscles.
In a joint statement, president of the EIB Philippe Maystadt pledged support today to the UNFCCC parties and talked of deploying “the full arsenal of instruments and resources at our disposal to maximize the use of financial flows by our client partners. Together with the other IFIs, the EIB is committed to provide packages of technical assistance and finance that blend loans, grants, equity, and carbon finance - and to support the carbon markets beyond 2012.”
In this video clip, the authors of our new report make some specific suggestions on how the EIB's billions for the energy sector can much better serve EU climate efforts and targets without the millstone of a heavy bias towards fossil fuel subsidisation in Europe and around the world. You can also write to Philippe Maystadt here and suggest that it's really about time for the EIB to get real when it comes to climate change. See also a Bankwatch opinion article at the European Voice website
In a joint statement, president of the EIB Philippe Maystadt pledged support today to the UNFCCC parties and talked of deploying “the full arsenal of instruments and resources at our disposal to maximize the use of financial flows by our client partners. Together with the other IFIs, the EIB is committed to provide packages of technical assistance and finance that blend loans, grants, equity, and carbon finance - and to support the carbon markets beyond 2012.”
In this video clip, the authors of our new report make some specific suggestions on how the EIB's billions for the energy sector can much better serve EU climate efforts and targets without the millstone of a heavy bias towards fossil fuel subsidisation in Europe and around the world. You can also write to Philippe Maystadt here and suggest that it's really about time for the EIB to get real when it comes to climate change. See also a Bankwatch opinion article at the European Voice website
[Highlight] New NGO road map points the way to a more transparent EIB
(November 9, 2009)
In parallel to a second round of consultations on the European Investment Bank’s Transparency Policy, Bankwatch together with the NGO Client Earth announced today the publication of a model transparency policy for the EIB that would set the bank on much more assured ground towards becoming an open and inclusive institution.
The aim of the new model policy is to, within the framework of EU legislation, give the public access to information on the functioning of the EIB and its operations both inside and outside the EU.
According to Anna Roggenbuck, Bankwatch's EIB coordinator: “At a time when there’s high public concern about and political will for increasing the transparency of international finance, with this model policy we aim to overcome the biggest deficiency in the current EIB policy, namely providing the public with access to and timely disclosure of environmental information about the projects it finances. Based on the procedures and practices of the Council of the EU, we are also proposing solutions for better transparency of the EIB’s own governing bodies.”
The aim of the new model policy is to, within the framework of EU legislation, give the public access to information on the functioning of the EIB and its operations both inside and outside the EU.
According to Anna Roggenbuck, Bankwatch's EIB coordinator: “At a time when there’s high public concern about and political will for increasing the transparency of international finance, with this model policy we aim to overcome the biggest deficiency in the current EIB policy, namely providing the public with access to and timely disclosure of environmental information about the projects it finances. Based on the procedures and practices of the Council of the EU, we are also proposing solutions for better transparency of the EIB’s own governing bodies.”
[Highlight] We have your co-ordinates - another black spot on the Bankwatch EU funds map of controversial projects is put on the spot
(November 5, 2009)
Once upon a time, a major road was planned in north-east Poland that would have devastated the glorious Rospuda Valley. Concerted campaigning from Bankwatch and other allies, along with a strong hand and determination from the European Commission to uphold EU environmental protection laws, saved the valley, and has resulted in a less damaging alternative routing of the Via Baltica expressway.
Echoes of that case were felt last week when the European Commission (EC) sent an official warning to the Polish government for breaching nature protection laws by approving and almost completing the north section (Szczecin-Gorzów) of the S3 expressway. The road, that features on Bankwatch's map of controversial EU funds projects, cuts through several Natura 2000 sites. Just a few months ago, the Polish government submitted an application for a refund of the project's costs from the Cohesion Fund.
Read on for the reasoning behind EC’s official warning and for the views of Bankwatch's Polish coordinator on what should happen next.
Echoes of that case were felt last week when the European Commission (EC) sent an official warning to the Polish government for breaching nature protection laws by approving and almost completing the north section (Szczecin-Gorzów) of the S3 expressway. The road, that features on Bankwatch's map of controversial EU funds projects, cuts through several Natura 2000 sites. Just a few months ago, the Polish government submitted an application for a refund of the project's costs from the Cohesion Fund.
Read on for the reasoning behind EC’s official warning and for the views of Bankwatch's Polish coordinator on what should happen next.
[Highlight] EBRD - lost in transition
(November 2, 2009)
A largely business as usual approach has been declared today by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development today with the publication of its 2009 Transition Report, accompanied by rhetoric about learning lessons from the economic crisis while lacking an explanation of what the bank is now doing differently.
In the video we take a look at one case of the Bank's transition impact and see some of the gaps in EBRD justification and the reality on the ground.
In the video we take a look at one case of the Bank's transition impact and see some of the gaps in EBRD justification and the reality on the ground.
[Highlight] Bankwatch joins global action on climate change
(October 24, 2009)
On October 24 members and partners of CEE Bankwatch Network joined the International Day of Climate Action demanding that strong climate mitigation measures are included in an ambitious deal at Copenhagen in December.
By forming the number 350, 54 people from 21 countries in central and eastern Europe expressed their concern that CO2 levels in the atmosphere must not exceed 350 parts per million - the safe level at which global temperature is kept under control and the risk of climate destabilisation is minimised.
Bankwatch also argues that a new climate deal cannot make use of the current international financial institutions, whose track records demonstrate a lack of ability to provide climate finance that ensures justice for the world's poor and most impacted by climate change.
New funds made available through a post-Kyoto deal must be controlled by all signatories, guarantee strong accountability and management structures, and offer real decision-making power to the most vulnerable. Only transparent, participatory, decentralised and carbon-neutral funds can find their place in a Copenhagen deal.
By forming the number 350, 54 people from 21 countries in central and eastern Europe expressed their concern that CO2 levels in the atmosphere must not exceed 350 parts per million - the safe level at which global temperature is kept under control and the risk of climate destabilisation is minimised.
Bankwatch also argues that a new climate deal cannot make use of the current international financial institutions, whose track records demonstrate a lack of ability to provide climate finance that ensures justice for the world's poor and most impacted by climate change.
New funds made available through a post-Kyoto deal must be controlled by all signatories, guarantee strong accountability and management structures, and offer real decision-making power to the most vulnerable. Only transparent, participatory, decentralised and carbon-neutral funds can find their place in a Copenhagen deal.
[Highlight] Public opinion strongly against another fossil fuel project in Albania
(October 21, 2009)
Bankwatch's partner in Albania, the environmental NGO EDEN, has been busy canvassing local opinion in Albania's second largest city Durrës about the Porto Romano coal-fired thermal power plant, proposed for development next to the port city by Italian energy giant Enel.
EDEN found strong public opposition to the project which may already be attracting attention from international public funders such as the EBRD that have dived into carbon-heavy investments in Albania in the past.
Read all about the survey findings on EDEN's website and Enel's shoddy project preparations in this just published Balkan Insight article.
EDEN found strong public opposition to the project which may already be attracting attention from international public funders such as the EBRD that have dived into carbon-heavy investments in Albania in the past.
Read all about the survey findings on EDEN's website and Enel's shoddy project preparations in this just published Balkan Insight article.
[Highlight] New 'homes' in Serbian temporary settlements are still far from acceptable
(October 20, 2009)
On 31 August 2009 the inhabitants of the Gazela informal settlement in Belgrade were resettled to temporary accommodation at four sites outside of Belgrade. After a visit conducted by partner group CEKOR in September which found a number of important issues needing to be addressed, Bankwatch carried out a follow-up fact-finding mission on 6-8 October 2009.
Some improvements in the current conditions have taken place, however as the colder weather sets in, heaters need to be urgently provided. Employment and the plans for the long-term resettlement of the project-affected people remain to be resolved. Similarly the sustainability of the resettlement of those who originally came from outside of Belgrade needs to be addressed, as around 20 out of the 60 families who were taken to their towns of origin in southern Serbia have already returned to Belgrade to live in informal settlements.
See pictures showing the situation in the new settlements in our Photo Gallery or read the new report from Bankwatch's follow-up fact-finding mission in October, producing evidence on the reality in and outside Belgrade and on a Resettlement Action Plan that still needs a lot of work before it meets either the EIB's or the EBRD's standards.
Some improvements in the current conditions have taken place, however as the colder weather sets in, heaters need to be urgently provided. Employment and the plans for the long-term resettlement of the project-affected people remain to be resolved. Similarly the sustainability of the resettlement of those who originally came from outside of Belgrade needs to be addressed, as around 20 out of the 60 families who were taken to their towns of origin in southern Serbia have already returned to Belgrade to live in informal settlements.
See pictures showing the situation in the new settlements in our Photo Gallery or read the new report from Bankwatch's follow-up fact-finding mission in October, producing evidence on the reality in and outside Belgrade and on a Resettlement Action Plan that still needs a lot of work before it meets either the EIB's or the EBRD's standards.
[Highlight] Upcoming Bankwatch conferences - Inside or outside Europe, EU development finance needs to deliver more
(October 15, 2009)
At two back-to-back conferences next month in Brussels, Bankwatch, the Counter Balance coalition and our partners will be scrutinising and discussing the EIB's external lending mandate and assessing what is restricting billions of euros worth of EU funds doing more for climate mitigation and adaptation.
With the economic crisis hitting hardest in central and eastern Europe and the developing world, the political and economic weight of the EIB and the EU's structural and cohesion funds has increased significantly in the last year. But, with the priority being to deploy these funds quicker than ever, what are the potential pitfalls?
Given the track record of the EIB and the tendency for EU funded projects to come with major environmental and social price tags, European decision makers should be opting for scrutiny over haste, now more than ever.
Climate change, that other global crisis, also requires urgent policy action - and financial backing - to enable a low carbon development pathway for economies - one that can secure for green jobs, energy security and long-term prosperity.
Read more about and register for the EU Funds and the EIB conferences.
With the economic crisis hitting hardest in central and eastern Europe and the developing world, the political and economic weight of the EIB and the EU's structural and cohesion funds has increased significantly in the last year. But, with the priority being to deploy these funds quicker than ever, what are the potential pitfalls?
Given the track record of the EIB and the tendency for EU funded projects to come with major environmental and social price tags, European decision makers should be opting for scrutiny over haste, now more than ever.
Climate change, that other global crisis, also requires urgent policy action - and financial backing - to enable a low carbon development pathway for economies - one that can secure for green jobs, energy security and long-term prosperity.
Read more about and register for the EU Funds and the EIB conferences.
[Highlight] Roads (and air) much less travelled – A self-help guide for the EBRD's transport sector lending
(October 1, 2009)
The transport sector is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. The EBRD is evaluating how it does transport lending in central and eastern Europe. Bankwatch input into this evaluation makes the case that the bank needs to dramatically scale down its carbon-heavy investments for new motorways, restrict its aviation investments to safety measures and air traffic management, and ensure that railway restructuring is not a misleading term that only gets people and freight off of rail because of higher tariffs.
The 'private sector at just about all costs' approach that the EBRD's core lending methodology insists on also needs to be reformed, with the transition to a low-carbon economy in dire need of taking precedence over purely market considerations. In the transport sector, this market fixation leads the EBRD to promote private sector participation even in sub-sectors where its use has not been proven to carry significant advantages for service provision and where even advanced market economies do not employ private sector service provision. Climate and quality of life considerations must now mean it's the end of the line for this kind of approach, as you can read here.
The 'private sector at just about all costs' approach that the EBRD's core lending methodology insists on also needs to be reformed, with the transition to a low-carbon economy in dire need of taking precedence over purely market considerations. In the transport sector, this market fixation leads the EBRD to promote private sector participation even in sub-sectors where its use has not been proven to carry significant advantages for service provision and where even advanced market economies do not employ private sector service provision. Climate and quality of life considerations must now mean it's the end of the line for this kind of approach, as you can read here.
[Highlight] EBRD must commit to climbing a more sustainable property ladder
(September 3, 2009)
A further decline in its investments for glitzy new hotels, a commitment to ensure that golf course projects, especially in Bulgaria and Croatia, are kept firmly 'out of bounds' in its lending portfolio, and a major effort from the EBRD to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of improving the energy efficiency of central and eastern Europe's still hugely carbon-intensive building stock – these are some of the main points informing Bankwatch's input into the EBRD's draft property sector strategy just submitted to the bank.
As with all sectors of the EBRD's lending in the current crisis footing, just about any new loan could deliver the bank's fabled 'additionality'. The financial crisis has resulted in a marked decline in available finance throughout our region, but this must not result in an 'anything goes' mentality. As Bankwatch's comments make clear, it is crucial that the EBRD tightly prioritises the use of its limited funds, giving precedence to those with clear long-term additionality and positive social and environmental impacts.
Read our comments to the draft EBRD property sector strategy here.
As with all sectors of the EBRD's lending in the current crisis footing, just about any new loan could deliver the bank's fabled 'additionality'. The financial crisis has resulted in a marked decline in available finance throughout our region, but this must not result in an 'anything goes' mentality. As Bankwatch's comments make clear, it is crucial that the EBRD tightly prioritises the use of its limited funds, giving precedence to those with clear long-term additionality and positive social and environmental impacts.
Read our comments to the draft EBRD property sector strategy here.
[Highlight] Via Baltica destruction continues in Natura 2000 sites
(August 10, 2009)
March’s good news about the Rospuda Valley, a Natura 2000 site protected under EU law, has unfortunately not proven to be a panacea for other protected areas near the Via Baltica expressway in northeast Poland. As construction plans for several other controversial sections of the motorway proceed at high speed, another Natura 2000 site - the Knyszyn Forest - finds itself in danger and with it the habitats of at least 15 bird species and mammals like wolf, lynx and the European bison.
CEE Bankwatch Network and the Polish Society for the Protection of the Birds (OTOP/BirdLife Poland) urge the European Commission to call on Poland to halt these road works until appropriate European environmental legislation is respected.
See images illustrating the imminent threats to Knyszyn forest here and read more about the groups’ demands and problems with the proposed road variants in our new Via Baltica update.
CEE Bankwatch Network and the Polish Society for the Protection of the Birds (OTOP/BirdLife Poland) urge the European Commission to call on Poland to halt these road works until appropriate European environmental legislation is respected.
See images illustrating the imminent threats to Knyszyn forest here and read more about the groups’ demands and problems with the proposed road variants in our new Via Baltica update.
[Highlight] ArcelorMittal responds to criticism...with spin
(July 13, 2009)
On 22nd May 2009 ArcelorMittal published a response to Global Action on ArcelorMittal’s recent report, entitled 'ArcelorMittal: Going nowhere slowly', saying that "many of the allegations found in the report are inaccurate and based on distorted facts".
Nevertheless the company has not identified which of the facts in the report it considers to be distorted. Being committed to using accurate information, GAAM asked the company to give further details, however as of 10th July 2009 no response had been received.
One of GAAM's main requests is the release of more plant-level data on the environmental and health and safety performance of ArcelorMittal’s plants. It would benefit both GAAM and the company if we were able to assess more accurately the extent to which the company’s claims stand up.
GAAM is a network of community and environmental groups from around the world, including Bankwatch, who are working to get ArcelorMittal to invest in pollution prevention and health and safety at its steel mills and coal and iron ore mines.
Read more about how GAAM reinforces its demands and counters ArcelorMittals's laments.
Nevertheless the company has not identified which of the facts in the report it considers to be distorted. Being committed to using accurate information, GAAM asked the company to give further details, however as of 10th July 2009 no response had been received.
One of GAAM's main requests is the release of more plant-level data on the environmental and health and safety performance of ArcelorMittal’s plants. It would benefit both GAAM and the company if we were able to assess more accurately the extent to which the company’s claims stand up.
GAAM is a network of community and environmental groups from around the world, including Bankwatch, who are working to get ArcelorMittal to invest in pollution prevention and health and safety at its steel mills and coal and iron ore mines.
Read more about how GAAM reinforces its demands and counters ArcelorMittals's laments.
[Highlight] EBRD enthusiasm for central Asian gas a step in the wrong direction
(June 26, 2009)
Last week's widely reported announcement that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is eager to take a lead financial role in the controversial Nabucco gas pipeline was received with disappointment by NGOs in the region.
Just a month after discussions with civil society at its Annual Meetings, during which the EBRD confessed that the failure of the growth model it has promoted in central and eastern Europe (CEE) is due in part to an over-reliance on commodities and under-investment in energy efficiency measures, the EBRD is again backing a megaproject that would do little to address either issue.
Read more here about what's wrong with the Nabucco pipeline and what the EBRD could be doing to promote sustainable energy futures in CEE.
Just a month after discussions with civil society at its Annual Meetings, during which the EBRD confessed that the failure of the growth model it has promoted in central and eastern Europe (CEE) is due in part to an over-reliance on commodities and under-investment in energy efficiency measures, the EBRD is again backing a megaproject that would do little to address either issue.
Read more here about what's wrong with the Nabucco pipeline and what the EBRD could be doing to promote sustainable energy futures in CEE.
[Highlight] Deja-vu at Bonn climate talks
(June 5, 2009)
With this year’s second UN Framework Convention on Climate Change meeting in Bonn now underway, a first draft policy to succeed the Kyoto Protocol for combating climate change has emerged, but it appears that little progress has been made towards reaching an agreement by the penultimate Copenhagen meetings in December.
Continuing her coverage from April’s meeting, Bankwatch’s international climate coordinator Katerina Husova is once again in Bonn following the action. Check out her Bonn blog here and follow her on twitter to receive the latest updates from the meetings.
Continuing her coverage from April’s meeting, Bankwatch’s international climate coordinator Katerina Husova is once again in Bonn following the action. Check out her Bonn blog here and follow her on twitter to receive the latest updates from the meetings.
CEE Bankwatch Network gratefully acknowledges EU funding support.