Cleaning up District Heating: Best technologies and real-life examples (Ukrainian)
December 18, 2025
Intended for practitioners, policymakers, civil society and the energy sector, this brochure reviews various public financing options that can help enable the transition to clean district heating.
More than just a few bad apples: If public engagement matters, why isn’t the EBRD tracking it?
December 11, 2025
Civil society organisations and accountability mechanisms have repeatedly highlighted EBRD-financed projects in which the people affected have been marginalised, consultations have been superficial, and grievances have been ignored. These are not isolated missteps or the work of a few bad apples, but rather recurring problems that result in serious harm to people and the environment. Our latest research identifies 38 such cases, raising a pressing question: How can the EBRD ensure meaningful public participation if it doesn’t identify and learn from its failures?
EU Reform and Growth Facility not yet speeding up energy transition in Western Balkans – new report
December 5, 2025
Two years after it was announced, the European Union’s Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans is struggling to deliver on its goals, according to a new analysis by CEE Bankwatch Network (1). The report reveals that a significant proportion of planned energy-related reforms are delayed and raises serious concerns about the suitability of performance-based models for the bulk of future EU funding in the region.
Beyond the scoreboard: Energy sector transformation under the Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans
December 5, 2025
This analysis offers an overview of the energy-related reforms from Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia and then evaluates the countries’ progress.
Inclusion of the Habitats, Birds and Water Framework Directives in the Energy Community Treaty: An urgent imperative
December 1, 2025
This briefing explains why the Birds Directive, Habitats Directive and Water Framework Directive need to be included in the Energy Community Treaty.
Albania’s Skavica dam can’t get off the ground – time to finally cancel it!
November 24, 2025
The highly damaging hydropower project could hardly have had stronger political support at its inception, with the country’s parliament passing a special law in 2021 to appoint U.S. construction giant Bechtel as the main contractor. But four years later, the project has stagnated, with no environmental permit and no financing.
With a revised Action Plan, is the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans finally on track?
November 6, 2025
The European Commission launched the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans in 2020. But five years later, progress is limited. In mid-October, an updated Action Plan was endorsed by Western Balkan leaders. Here we look at whether civil society proposals were taken into account and whether the revised plan can inject new dynamism into the process.
CBAM: Western Balkan governments must act now to avoid ‘perfect storm’ – new report
October 30, 2025
The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) takes full effect from 1 January 2026. But Western Balkan governments’ lack of preparation increases the risk of a calamitous and unjust energy transition, finds a new report published today by CEE Bankwatch Network (1).
A perfect storm: The Western Balkans power sector in the time of CBAM
October 29, 2025
Starting with the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) full implementation in January 2026, most electricity generation companies in the Western Balkans will be heavily affected.
Romania’s Parliament paves the way for environmental destruction and ‘foreign agent’ repression
October 20, 2025
Romania stands at a dangerous crossroads. Last week, a law initiated by the senator Daniel Zamfir in 2022 and already then rejected by the Senate, passed by a crushing majority (262–33) in the decisive Deputies Chamber.
