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
Prisoners of coal
Blog entry | 6 September, 2019The Stanari coal-fired power plant, which started operating in September 2016, its ash disposal site, and the already-existing open-cast lignite mine have formed a curve around the north and east of the village. Now the locals in Stanari are regularly affected by pollution from different directions. The ones we spoke to, who live closest to the mine, claim that their health is deteriorating, their agricultural land is becoming useless and their homes are losing their value as the mine is devouring the nearby hills.
Read moreThe Skopje Green City Action Plan – developing a city for citizens or for decision makers?
Blog entry | 29 July, 2019The preparation of the Skopje Green City needs to be transparent and to include citizens and civil society in a meaningful way from the early stages of planning.
Read moreFor the third year in a row, the European Commission asks Romania to stop big polluters
Blog entry | 29 July, 2019The European Commission’s July 2019 infringements package list [1] prominently features Romania. The country is called out for its industrial installations operating without an environment permit and “a systemic failure to monitor air pollution”.
Read moreRelated publications
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 theTransformation Action Plan of Coal Region Upper Nitra and to propose concrete steps towards thebetter integration of the local communities in order to achiev
Seven Golden Rules for open and inclusive just transition planning at the regional level
Briefing | 15 July, 2019 | Download PDFEvery region and every community is different. As EU countries wake up to the climate emergency and the need for a swift transition to a sustainable and carbon-neutral society, it is becoming increasingly clear that we need regional and community-level
Kako se riješiti smoga
Study | 25 June, 2019 | Download PDFKoliko bi javno zdravlje Tuzle imalo koristi od provedbe zakonodavstva o kvalitetu zraka CEE Bankwatch Network i Centar za ekologiju i energiju su u Tuzli proveli neovisni monitoring čestica prašine poznate kao PM10. Pored toga smo, na osnovu zvaničnih
