Reform and growth, or spray and pray?
March 7, 2024 | Read more
The European Commission’s proposed Western Balkans Reform and Growth Facility lacks clear goals, focus, public participation, and EU oversight. So the European Parliament now has its work cut out to whip it into shape before the Facility is set up later this year.
Bar’s battle: Montenegrin town rising against LNG project
March 5, 2024 | Read more
Plans to build a fossil gas import terminal on Montenegro’s coast, with backing from the European Commission, endanger the country’s fossil fuel phaseout. Growing local opposition to the project also underlines poor public participation in the process.
Alarming new Politico report uncovers ‘revolving doors’ in the EIB’s highest echelons linked to the controversial expansion of the Budapest airport.
Kyrgyzstan is one of the few countries in Central Asia with an active and vibrant civil society, represented by strong human right defenders and active environmental and social issue groups. Last year, however, the Kyrgyz government proposed two repressive laws on non-governmental organisations and the media, which represent a major setback for the country’s democratic future.
New study offers reality check on fossil gas in North Macedonia
January 30, 2024 | Read more
North Macedonia has ever-more-ambitious plans to increase the use of fossil gas. But these were developed before the recent energy crisis. In addition to the climate havoc, import dependence and fossil-fuel lock-in wrought by gas, a new study shows that pipeline construction costs have increased, high household gasification rates are unlikely, and significant household solar, heat pumps or retrofits could be financed instead.
Why Samarkand’s Green City Action Plan alone is not enough
January 25, 2024 | Read more
Samarkand is the first city in Uzbekistan to join the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s Green Cities programme. Preparations for a Green City Action Plan (GCAP) have already begun, with stakeholder engagement workshops now underway. However, Samarkand residents are concerned that a strategic general urban plan has not been put in place to ensure the GCAP recommendations are implemented.
