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.
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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.
Discussions are now underway to agree on a new EU budget which will run from 2027 to 2034. This represents a golden opportunity to improve biodiversity spending to achieve the objectives of the biodiversity strategy in full.
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
Free-flowing rivers in Central Asia
Central Asian rivers are under threat from hundreds of new hydropower plants. We have created a map of the key rivers in the region that need urgent protection and are calling on the development banks to stop their destruction.
Emerald Network in the Western Balkans
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia are required to establish a sufficient number of Emerald Network sites as signatories to the Bern Convention. However, since 2011, not a single new site has been proposed and many stunning rivers remain unprotected. The #EmeraldForRivers campaign aims to support governments in expanding the Emerald Network.
Turnu Măgurele – Nikopol Hydraulic Structures Assembly on the Danube river, Romania and Bulgaria
The project, if built, would not only devastate critical habitats, leading to the potential extinction of species such as the Danube sturgeons, but also displace local communities, disrupt existing investments, and violate several EU environmental directives.
Latest news
A budget aware of the challenges, yet falling short on solutions for a resilient future
Press release | 16 July, 2025Despite bold rhetoric on climate and environmental leadership, the European Commission’s proposal for the next long-term EU budget, published today, falls short of aligning future EU spending with the needs of a climate-neutral EU. It fails to provide a clear, enforceable vision for beneficiaries of EU funds to tackle today’s multiple challenges by directing public funds towards building a more resilient, just, and environmentally sustainable economy.
Read moreThe threat to the EU’s LIFE programme in the next budget
Bankwatch in the media | 26 June, 2025The EU’s new priorities are at a major crossroads. The once cutting-edge European Green Deal is now ditched in favour of defence, security and competitiveness. These discussions are taking place against the backdrop of the much-anticipated future EU budget, the financial resource responsible for driving forward the EU’s goals.
Read moreMontenegro’s stop-start spatial plan set to greenlight harmful hydro projects
Blog entry | 24 June, 2025Montenegro is touted as the lead EU accession candidate these days, but it’s unfortunately far from ready. The country’s hotly debated new national spatial plan is a case in point, plagued by delays, legal breaches, opacity and all-round low quality.
Read moreRelated publications
Enquiry regarding the Natura 2000 assessment process of the Ombla hydropower plant
Advocacy letter | 27 February, 2012 | Download PDFMore information on the Ombla hydropower plant project is available on our website. The EBRD replied to our enquiry on March 1, 2012. Their answer can be downloaded as pdf.
Khudoni hydropower plant – a risky deal
Briefing | 21 November, 2011 | Download PDFThe proposed Khudoni hydro power plant poses the risk of an ecological disaster in one of the most amazing highland regions of Georgia. Additionally, the economic justification of the project is doubtful because the contract with the completely unknown, offshore Virgin Islands registered Georgian-Indian Company Transelectrica Ltd, is based on the BOO (Build-Own-Operate) principle that does not promise any significant income for the Georgian budget.
Official complaint to EBRD: Ombla hydropower project, Croatia
Official document | 17 November, 2011 | Download PDFMore information on the project is available here.
