The Turkish Garanti Bank, one of the winners of the Sustainability Awards of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is among the main coal investors in Turkey.
Coal investments are a dying breed in many countries, but some investors are still ready to try their luck in southeast Europe and Turkey. For campaigners who want to communicate with these actors Bankwatch has developed the user-friendly online toolkit Kings of Coal in three languages.
10 years since EU accession: less than we hoped for
May 1, 2014 | Read more
It’s not that easy to pull off a celebratory mood this 1st of May, even though on this date we mark the anniversary of 10 years since most of central and eastern Europe joined the European Union.
The SOCAR Refinery project and its ‘secret’ coal power plant show the magnitude of the problems that the mixture of business interests, coal and neglect of local health concerns may cause in Turkey.
One year after a landslide destroyed thirteen houses the Kolubara mining company continues to dump waste in the same area without information from its investigations forthcoming. Locals fear that more landslides may occur. Bankwatch member group CEKOR has now increased pressure on the company and the EBRD.
At the end of May the whole of Europe will be going to the ballot box for the 2014 European Parliament elections. But when the votes are counted and members-to-be (MEPs) take their place, who are they going to represent – people or profit? The Bankwatch supported campaign Politics for people asks them to take a pledge against the latter.
