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
EIB keeps denying Southern Gas Corridor climate impact
Blog entry | 4 August, 2020As it seeks to morph into the EU’s climate bank, the European Investment Bank (EIB) continues to downplay the climate footprint of many of the projects it finances, including that of Europe’s largest fossil fuels project, the Southern Gas Corridor.
Read moreIllegal lignite mine expansion in Bosnia and Herzegovina prompts NGO formal complaint
Press release | 30 July, 2020The ongoing expansion at the Gacko lignite mine in Bosnia and Herzegovina, happening already for over three years and treated lightly by local environmental authorities, breaches the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive, argues the complaint submitted today to the Energy Community’s secretariat by the Center for Environment from Banja Luka. The organisation has sought remedies on domestic level on two occasions, but the Ministry of Environment took no action.
Read morePriority energy infrastructure projects for the EU’s neighbours still anchored in fossil fuels
Blog entry | 28 July, 2020The energy projects proposed by the Energy Community countries for priority status, including privileged access to public funds, have now passed the evaluation stage, expecting a final decision by the year’s end. On the bright side, at least two megalomaniac projects were dropped. On the dark one, the remaining projects floor the gas pedal.
Read moreRelated publications
CEE Bankwatch Network comments on the EBRD’s draft GET 2.0
Policy comments | 3 June, 2020 | Download PDFCEE Bankwatch Network comments on the EBRD’s draft of the Green Economy Transition 2.0
The Road Less Travelled: How the European Investment Bank’s Climate Roadmap 2021-2025 can lead it to become the climate bank
Study | 20 May, 2020 | Download PDFThis report summarises the EIB’s undertakings on the road towards becoming the EU’s Climate Bank. It presents our findings on the implementation of the EIB’s 2015 Climate Strategy and looks at the results of the Bank’s climate action in the EU and enlargement countries. It also puts forward recommendations to the Bank.
Financing a just transition in Gorj, Romania
Study | 14 April, 2020 | Download PDFThe report Financing a just transition in Gorj, Romania analyses the way EU funding was spent between 2007 and 2013 to mitigate the social costs of layoffs within Oltenia Energy Complex by retraining and labour market reintegration.
