Comply or Close 2025: Seven years of deadly legal breaches by Western Balkan coal plants
June 17, 2025
The end of 2024 marked seven years since the deadline passed for power plants in the Western Balkans to meet new air pollution standards.
Proposal for just transition in Western Balkans for next Multiannual Financial Framework
May 2, 2025
With the financing for just transition on the EU level under threat, the ambition for moving forward with just transition on the local level in the Western Balkans is rapidly decreasing because the EU is not prioritising the process. To revive ambition
Western Balkan governments are willing accomplices in Azerbaijan’s abuse of COP29. Will the EU act to defend climate integrity?
November 22, 2024
This year’s COP29 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku never looked like a serious attempt to tackle the global climate emergency. After all, its hosts plan to increase oil and gas production by a third over the next decade – hardly a sign of climate leadership.
Western Balkans: Civil society groups call on European Commission to strengthen support for just transition
October 4, 2024
A group of civil society organisations, including CEE Bankwatch Network, are calling on the European Commission and other actors to step up support for a just transition in coal-dependent communities in the Western Balkans.
From quantity to quality: how to improve the infrastructure project selection process under the Western Balkans Investment Framework
August 29, 2024
The Western Balkans Investment Framework provides finance and technical assistance for investments, particularly in infrastructure, energy efficiency and private sector development.
Western Balkans can leapfrog gas for solar and wind to power clean energy transition
July 16, 2024
Countries of the Western Balkans have enough prospective utility-scale solar and wind projects to generate four times more electricity than from gas-fired plants, saving billions of euros and avoiding significant carbon emissions in the process, according to a new report from Global Energy Monitor.
A race to the top: Western Balkans 2024
July 16, 2024
A report by Global Energy Monitor, CEE Bankwatch Network and REScoop.eu reveals the Western Balkans have more than 23 GW of proposed utility-scale solar and wind projects—almost 70 per cent more than a year ago.
Local authority planning for a just transition: Why Western Balkan coal regions should create their own redevelopment plans and how it can be done
April 26, 2024
From December 2020 to December 2023, the European Union implemented its first Initiative for coal regions in transition in the Western Balkans and Ukraine
Air pollution in Ugljevik, Bosnia and Herzegovina
March 27, 2024
Ugljevik lignite-fired power plant, located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is notorious Europe-wide for its extremely high emissions of sulphur dioxide into the air. Despite the exceptionally high stack of the power plant, the town of Ugljevik is still suffering from serious air pollution.
Bitola’s heating future: a pipeline to nowhere or solar solutions?
December 22, 2023
Bitola in North Macedonia is currently pursuing a decades-old district heating plan connected to the nearby coal power plant – which will, however, close in a few years. But better alternatives exist, as discussed at a recent event in the city, and young people, especially those involved in information sciences and technology, should play a key role in moving them forward.
