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.
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
Court complaints launched against Bosnia-Herzegovina hydropower permits
Press release | 26 July, 2018Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Nikšić, Podgorica, Prague – The Aarhus Resource Centre Sarajevo has submitted two court complaints [1] to the District Court in Banja Luka against the environmental permits for the Buk Bijela and Foča hydropower plants on the river Drina in Bosnia-Herzegovina near the border with Montenegro.
Read moreNenskra Hydro Project – Update
Campaign update | 29 June, 2018The Asian Infrastracture Investment Bank is considering a non-sovereign loan of USD 100 million for a 280 MW reservoir-type hydropower plant, located in the Nenskra and Nakra valleys of Northwest Georgia. We would like to provide information about new developments that the AIIB should consider as part of its due dillgence on the project.
Read moreHow compliant is ADB to its own safeguards policies?
Bankwatch in the media | 18 May, 2018A Georgia hydropower project has locals and civil society concerned. One of the banks considering funding the project is ADB, yet a complaint filed with its compliance review panel shows the limitations of its safeguards. The panel recommends a full in
Read moreRelated publications
EU biodiversity credits – barking up the wrong tree
Briefing | 7 July, 2025 | Download PDFThis briefing provides an overview of biodiversity credits, offsets and nature markets, EU plans and issues with biodiversity credits.
LIFE for nature: Why Europe’s flagship environmental programme must remain part of the next EU budget
Report | 26 June, 2025 | Download PDFOur publication showcases successful LIFE-funded projects from Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia and Slovenia. These inspiring examples demonstrate the programme’s positive impact on a wide range of ecosystems – and why it must continue to support nature in the next EU budget.
Biodiversity funding in the EU’s next long-term budget: Opportunities and risks for national plans
Statement | 27 March, 2025 | Download PDFThis joint statement highlights the key opportunities and challenges for improving the design and deployment of biodiversity financing in the next EU budget, particularly if national plans are introduced.
