A clash is raging between nature and finance. On the one hand, the EU is striving to improve the deteriorating state of nature across Europe, with initiatives like the Biodiversity Strategy 2030 and the European Green Deal. On the other, massive amounts of public money continue to flow to infrastructure projects with devastating impacts on the natural world. Our work where finance meets the natural world advocates for adequate protection and restoration projects to ensure a green future for all.
IN FOCUS
Rivers and communities
The countries of the Energy Community Treaty have diverse energy mixes, but hydropower has traditionally played a strong role in many of them. Albania is almost completely reliant on dams for its domestic electricity generation, followed by Georgia with an average of 80 per cent of electricity generated by hydropower and Montenegro with an average of 55 per cent.
EU funds and biodiversity
In May 2020, EU leaders committed to an ambitious Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, outlining the clear need to act on biodiversity loss and address the failing health of nature.
The historic amount of EU funds now available represents a golden opportunity to increase biodiversity spending and fully realise the objectives of the biodiversity strategy.
As well as addressing the biodiversity crisis, strategically supporting nature through EU funds is also one of the most effective ways to tackle climate change, while providing jobs and improved health at the same time.
Yet, with many of the previous strategy’s objectives left unachieved, the pressure now mounts for this decade. Never before has there been so much potential – and urgency – to use EU funds and investments to address the biodiversity crisis.
Related projects
Ulog and Upper Neretva hydropower plants, Bosnia and Herzegovina
A 35 MW hydropower plant is currently under construction on a pristine section of the Neretva river at Ulog. Seven more plants are also planned further upstream.
Skavica hydropower plant, Albania
Instead of increasing its energy security, Albania is pushing the construction of yet more hydropower. The Skavica project may flood several villages, displace thousands of people and bring the Balkan lynx to extinction
Komarnica hydropower plant, Montenegro
Planned by Montenegro’s state-owned electricity utility EPCG, the need for the Komarnica hydropower plant has never been proven.
Latest news
European Parliament fails to halt disastrous hydropower project jeopardising local livelihoods and endangered species
Press release | 27 September, 2024WWF and CEE Bankwatch Network question the EU Commission’s reasons for putting this decades-old project on the Danube river on its priority investment list.
Read moreActivists say Bosnian dam threatens river life and rafters
Bankwatch in the media | 26 June, 2024KONJIC, Bosnia, June 25 (Reuters) – Environmental activist Lejla Kusturica stood on the banks of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Neretva river, …
Read moreBattling Rapids and Regulation: Neretva River’s Eco-Warrior Stands Tall
Bankwatch in the media | 25 June, 2024Lejla Kusturica, a Bosnian environmental activist, is concerned about the impact of a new hydro-power dam on the Neretva river’s ecosystem …
Read moreRelated publications
Joint Statement On the Expansion of the Emerald Network in Countries of the Western Balkans by scientists and representatives of NGOs
Statement | 13 February, 2023 | Download PDFIn early December 2022, 39 scientists and representatives of NGOs from Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Switzerland joined efforts to prepare a shadow list and a map o
Why hydropower in southeast Europe is a risky investment
Report | 27 July, 2022 | Download PDFHydropower, together with coal, has traditionally played a major role in the power systems of southeast Europe, with particularly high shares in Albania, Montenegro and Croatia. And today, southeast European governments, utilities and energy experts are keen to build even more hydropower.
Flagships or red flags? Risks of proposed flagship infrastructure projects under the Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans
Briefing | 24 March, 2022 | Download PDFUnder the European Commission’s October 2020 Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans, the Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA) is set to provide grants worth EUR 9 billion, with up to EUR 20 billion more in investments leveraged through the Western Balkans Guarantee Facility. Western Balkan governments have proposed projects for financing in ten Flagship areas for investment. The list of these proposed projects contains many which appear reasonable and much-needed, but many others are not in line with EU policy and/or legislation and must not be funded with EU money. This briefing provides an overview of selected projects that have been nominated by governments but which are not in line with EU policy and/or legislation.
