The economic viability of coal is ever decreasing. Without public financial support many coal investments are doomed to fail. Yet several institutions are still willing to finance an energy source that wrecks our climate, damages our health and wastes our money.
To help bring about a world beyond coal, we investigate and promote a socially responsible transition while exposing the economic, legal, social and environmental risks of coal power.
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We provide updates in English from the Balkans and other coal regions.
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Just transition
No one should be left behind when we reconstruct our world into one driven by clean energy. Working on just transition brings all actors who believe in fair regional redevelopment to the same table: unions, industry, public administration, governments, civil society and others sharing this goal.
Coal projects
Just transition
Working on just transition brings all actors who believe in fair regional redevelopment to the same table: unions, industry, public administration, governments, civil society and others sharing this goal. They should be working together to find what is best for their regions and communities, from creating good quality jobs to identifying sustainable alternatives.
Rovinari unit 7, Romania
The Romanian Government has been negotiating for several years with the Chinese Government to build a new 600 MW unit at the lignite power plant in Rovinari, Gorj County. The new unit would be built on the site of Units 1 and 2, currently decommissioned. A new up and running plant would pollute the whole region for at least 40 more years, a coal plant’s average lifespan.
Gacko II, Bosnia and Herzegovina
State-owned utility Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske, together with China Machinery and Engineering Corporation (CMEC) and Emerging Markets Power Fund, plans to build a new 350 MW lignite power plant in Gacko, near the town’s existing plant, and in December 2017 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed to move the project forward.
Latest news
NGOs reaction to preparatory works kicking off at Tuzla 7 coal unit in Bosnia-Herzegovina: “This plant is not ready for construction”
Press release | 31 October, 2019Preparatory works for the construction of a new 450 MW coal unit Tuzla 7 are set to start on Friday, even as numerous controversies accompany the project, including an infringement case under the Energy Community Treaty.
Read moreExpansion of largest coal mine in Romania stopped, following Bankwatch court case
Press release | 23 October, 2019Bucharest – A Bucharest court blocked the expansion of Rosia, the largest coal mine in Romania located in Gorj county, following a legal challenge to the mine’s environmental permit lodged by Bankwatch Romania.
Read moreNew report: Scenarios for a just transition in Jiu Valley, Romania
Press release | 23 September, 2019NGOs Bankwatch Romania and Greenpeace launched today a new report, “Just transition in Hunedoara – Economic diversification in a fair and sustainable manner”, outlining scenarios for the post-coal development of Romania’s best known coal region, the Jiu Valley, and highlighting that job growth and economic development without coal are very much possible in the region.
Read moreRelated publications
Chinese-financed coal projects in Europe
Briefing | 10 December, 2019 | Download PDFAs coal phase-out is well underway in the European Union, and the international community is mobilizing to tackle the climate crisis, new coal plants are still planned and built in Southeast Europe, courtesy of Chinese financial support.
Comply or close: how Western Balkan coal plants breach air pollution laws and what governments must do about it
Study | 10 December, 2019 | Download PDFIn 2018, pollution control legislation under the Energy Community Treaty finally obliged the Western Balkan countries to start reducing the choking air pollution from their coal power plants. Action was badly needed. In 2016, these 16 plants emitted as
The transformation action plan for the Slovakia’s Upper Nitra coal region
Study | 24 September, 2019 | Download PDFThe aim of this study is to describe the process by which local communities participated in the Transformation Action Plan of Coal Region Upper Nitra and to propose concrete steps towards the better integration of the local communities in order to achi
