Russia’s Khimki Forest Threatened by Highway Project
The Nation | May 4, 2011Time is running out for Russian activists hoping to stop the construction of a highway through an old growth forest outside of Moscow. In an eleventh hour campaign, the Movement to Defend Khimki Forest is targeting the French company overseeing the controversial project. Vinci, one of Europe’s largest corporations, signed the contract for the Moscow-St. Petersburg motorway in 2009 and could begin the first phase of development this month. The 43-kilometer section will slice through the heart of an old growth oak forest, an important corridor for large game and home to numerous endangered plant species, as well as a cherished greenbelt on the edge of one of the world’s most polluted cities.
How can governments and industry win public support for new low-carbon technologies?
Comment Visions | April 26, 2011As a start, lumping together all low-carbon technologies is not the most advisable approach to win public support for new, low-carbon technologies.
The EBRD: What role does it have to play 20 years on?
BBC | April 19, 2011Twenty years on from its creation, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) may think it is time to reconsider, or at least extend, its remit.
Are the EU’s public banks fit to support southern Med’s new democrats?
The Guardian | April 19, 2011The European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development have failed to prevent corruption and social injustice
Leaders tell EU neighbours to stress-test nuclear plants
EuObserver | April 19, 2011EU leaders have called on neighbouring states including Russia and Ukraine to carry out ‘stress tests’ on their nuclear plants.
Banking is not a tool to support democracy
New Europe | March 28, 2011Over the next three years, the European Commission is planning to channel seven billion euro for the Southern Mediterranean through the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). But the track record of these two banks raises serious questions over their ability to support democratisation in the region.
Advocacy groups oppose larger North Africa role for EBRD, EIB
Reuters | March 23, 2011A loose coalition of advocacy groups is urging shareholders of two European Union-backed banks to halt plans to expand lending in North Africa as too little attention has been paid to the democratic credentials of recipient countries.
EU ‘ignoring safety risks’ in financing of nuclear expansion in Ukraine
The Ecologist | March 17, 2011As Japan’s Fukushima disaster unfolds, the EU is financing a controversial nuclear expansion programme in Ukraine to increase exports to energy-hungry consumers in western Europe.
The EU forgets Chernobyl as it encourages Ukraine to become major nuclear-generated electricity exporter
openDemocracy | March 15, 2011Ukraine has an energy strategy that sees significant new nuclear build. The European Investment Bank’s “Trans-European Networks” initiative encourages this new build by increasing the capacity for power exports to the West
With banks like these…
European Voice | March 4, 2011Is the EIB undermining the EU’s long-term climate targets? The example of Slovenia suggests it is. Last month, the first European Council devoted specifically to energy confirmed the need for an 80%-95% reduction in output of greenhouse gases by 2050 (
