The EBRD: Fueling the future, or stuck in the past?
November 19, 2015
A closer look at the projects that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has financed in the energy sector in Middle East and North African countries reveals that, despite the bank’s rhetoric about promoting sustainable energy, its balance sheet has fossil fuels all over it.
EU gives neighbours three times more funding for fossil fuels than renewables
November 19, 2015
Financing from the EU’s development funds to its neighbours far higher for fossil fuels than for renewables, report finds
‘EU geeft buurtlanden 3 keer meer financiering voor fossiel dan voor hernieuwbaar’
November 19, 2015
UTRECHT – De Europese Unie geeft buurlanden 3 keer meer subsidie voor energieprojecten met fossiele brandstoffen dan voor groene-energieprojecten. Dit stelt CCE Bankwatch Network, een Oost-Europese ngo die investeringen in groen en fossiel in de gaten houdt. De organisatie keek naar investeringsovereenkomsten tussen Europese instituten en de energiesector van 16 aangrenzende landen van de EU. In totaal financierde de Europese Unie 9 miljard euro aan energieprojecten bij buurlanden in het oosten en het zuiden tussen 2007 en 2014. Retoriek
The energy dissonance: How EU development funds fuel climate change while leaders talk decarbonisation
November 17, 2015
EU leaders repeatedly voice commitments to spearhead the global effort to tackle climate change, primarily through long-term decarbonisation targets. But a Bankwatch research into the EU’s development funds for neighbouring regions finds that considerably more European taxpayer money is supporting fossil fuels than facilitating a sustainable energy transition.
Executive summary: European public money for the energy sector in countries of the European Neighbourhood Policy
November 17, 2015
Countries of the European Neighbourhood have received a boost to their energy sectors in the last decade, thanks in part to the prominent role played by the EU as a catalyst of both policy reforms and financing. This paper is the executive summary of an upcoming study that examines EU financing for the energy sector in 16 countries of the European Neighbourhood between 2007 and 2014.
Executive summary: The EU and energy in the Arab countries
November 17, 2015
This briefing (an executive summary of an upcoming report) looks at energy investments by the EU in the Southern Mediterranean region and the impacts on the social, economic and environmental rights of citizens and communities by highlighting the compliance of these activities with the values of democracy, human rights and economic development for Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. It also assesses the type of the investments that would be beneficial both for host countries as well as for the EU.
Analysis of EU investments in Ukraine’s energy sector, 2007-2014
November 17, 2015
Between 2007-2014, Ukraine received from EU public institutions over EUR 2.5 billion for 56 projects in the country’s energy sector. This is the highest amount of support for the energy sector among all countries of the European Neighbourhood Policy, both by volume and number of investments. Only 15 per cent of that support went to combating inefficient energy use or to developing local sustainable energy sources. The focus of EU financial support has remained on ‘traditional’ sources of energy.
Azerbaijan, the European Neighbourhood Policy and the EU’s energy interest
November 17, 2015
Azerbaijan has been a part of the EU Neighbourhood Policy since 2004 and has enjoyed substantial support through investments in the energy sector. As a result of cooperation on energy projects, the EU is today Azerbaijan’s main trading partner, with bilateral trade amounting to more than EUR 16.7 billion in 2014. But while the European Commission’s 2014 progress report on Azerbaijan stressed the good progress in the EU’s partnership with Azerbaijan, problems for ordinary Azeris are increasing.
Executive summary: the Eastern Neighbourhood Region and the EU’s energy interests
November 17, 2015
Since the early 1990s, the EU has actively sought the development of both the oil and gas sectors in former Soviet republics. Energy security, the cornerstone of the EU’s foreign policy became the driving force behind the European Neighbourhood Policy. Investments through the EU’s Neighbourhood Policy Instrument and public banks have supported the development of unsustainable energy systems in most Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries. Like in other countries, the EaP region received more for fossil fuels than renewable sources of energy.
Tunisia case study: the EU and energy in the Arab countries
November 17, 2015
The European Bank For Reconstruction and Development states that it is “supporting energy efficiency and the development of a sustainable energy sector” and “financing private enterprises, with a focus on SMEs” among its four priorities for Tunisia. In this briefing, the Tunisian Observatory of the Economy (OTE) argues in its assessment of EBRD activities during the period 2012-2014 that it is difficult to find EBRD investments in line with their stated strategy of focusing on SMEs and a sustainable energy sector.
