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
Ashes to ashes, state aid to dust
Blog entry | 11 December, 2019In a world that is plagued by over-urbanisation, it is not common for people to move away from cities. One local in Șimnicu de Sus decided to leave the city in search for some peace and quiet – and got punished for it. The improperly managed ash disposal site from the nearby power plant is contaminating his house and the air he breathes with various pollutants. Now, there are even plans for expanding the site by using public money – the locals’ money.
Read moreNew report: Western Balkan coal plants in severe breach of air pollution limits
Press release | 10 December, 2019Brussels – Western Balkan countries breach air pollution limits for coal plants agreed with the Energy Community by as much as six times for one toxic substance, according to new research published today by CEE Bankwatch Network.
Read moreNorth Macedonia: coal exit welcome, but no excuse for ecosystem destruction
Blog entry | 5 December, 2019Two out of three scenarios in the country’s groundbreaking draft Energy Strategy foresee a coal exit by 2025 – excellent news in a country traditionally dominated by coal-fired electricity. But the Strategy’s plans for hydropower are unrealistic, writes Nevena Smilevska.
Read moreRelated publications
Climate action at the European Investment Bank: an overview
Briefing | 13 December, 2019 | Download PDFThe EIB had already proclaimed itself the EU’s climate bank long before the new EU Commission of Ursula von der Leyen presented the idea of transforming a part of the Bank into Europe’s Climate Bank. It has been over a decade now since the EIB establis
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
