The beginning of the end – coal phase out in Romania
August 16, 2021 | Read more
On 27 July, the most polluting coal power plant in Romania was shut down. After more than 50 years in service, the Mintia power plant is closing because it has failed for a long time to comply with the legal emissions limit. The European Commission sent infringement notices to Romania five years in a row for non-compliance with the Industrial Emissions Directive. At the same time, two units at Oltenia Energy Complex, Romania’s largest lignite power producer, will be closed by the end of the year. For Romanian coal power, this is the beginning of the end.
Fossil gas investments undermine green recovery in Romania
August 9, 2021 | Read more
Despite strong criticism from the European Commission, the Romanian authorities are determined to use the EU recovery fund for massive investments in fossil gas and hydrogen.
A joint Bankwatch-CAN Europe analysis in 11 countries shows little involvement of local stakeholders in the programming process of EU structural and investment funds. This contradicts EU rules on partnership and multi-level governance and won’t help reach the Green Deal’s objectives.
In the national recovery and resilience plans, energy efficiency and building renovations can play a key role for Member States to achieve the required target of 37 per cent of expenditures related to climate. The potential to modernise buildings is the greatest in central and eastern Europe, where the building stock is particularly inefficient. But an assessment of eight national plans across the region finds uneven progress towards these aims. Christophe Jost of Bankwatch concludes that this is likely to hamper efforts to decarbonise the region’s building stock in line with the Renovation Wave´s ambitious objectives.
The heroic dust monitor
July 22, 2021 | Read more
This year we are marking five years since Bankwatch engaged in air pollution work in the Balkans. Throughout these years, there was one constant in the work – the environmental dust monitor. It has become the hero of many communities and is known to every organisation in the region that works for cleaner air.
In a series of video tutorials, we demonstrate tools civil society organisations and activists from Uzbekistan can use to have a say about projects supported by development banks that may affect their communities and the environment.
