Concern for irrigation, drainage and other water management measures in national recovery and resilience plans
July 14, 2021
The briefing outlines proposals for widespread irrigation and water management measures within six central and eastern European recovery plans and explains why these measures will likely be damaging to biodiversity. These include the development of int
Estonia barely scratches the surface on green recovery
June 30, 2021
Estonia’s recovery and resilience plan was one of the last to be submitted to the European Commission. Yet despite the extra time it took authorities to develop, the plan is based on an incomplete vision of a green recovery which completely ignores the issues of biodiversity and nature protection.
Problematic measures to be addressed during the ongoing assessment of Recovery and Resilience Plans
June 9, 2021
This briefing provides a compilation of assessments of recovery plans submitted to the Recovery and Resilience Facility. The document was prepared in cooperation with Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe, EuroNatur and the European Environmental Bureau
An ambitious vision for European wildlife. Suggestions to the draft Vision and Strategic Plan for the Bern Convention for the period to 2030.
May 21, 2021
Friends of the Earth Europe (FOEE) and CEE Bankwatch Network submitted joint suggestions to the draft Vision and Strategic Plan for the period to 2030 of the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats. The final text
Building back biodiversity: How EU Member States fail to spend the recovery fund for nature
May 20, 2021
This report brings together assessments of the national recovery and resilience plans of ten central and eastern European (CEE) countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia). It outli
Uneven progress towards green recovery as EU members submit spending plans to access EUR 672 billion fund
April 28, 2021
Brussels – EU Member States that opened up their spending plans for the EUR 672 billion Recovery and Resilience Facility have made the most progress towards the aims of the European Green Deal, finds a new assessment of eight countries in central and eastern Europe.
A case study on the Beli Kamen and Komalj hydropower plants on the Crni Rzav and Ribnica Rivers in Serbia
April 22, 2021
The small hydropower plants Beli Kamen and Komalj are built on the Crni Rzav and Ribnica Rivers of the Drina basin in western Serbia. Both plants are interconnected, as they use water from the same intakes and were financed by the European Investment B
Opportunities for biodiversity and environment missed in Bulgarian recovery plan
April 15, 2021
Instead of reforms, the country plans to rehab an irrigation system that can potentially destroy wetlands, and without transparency and public dialogue, the plan cements business-as-usual. With a 30 April deadline for submitting national recovery plans approaching and recent parliamentary elections, the Bulgarian government is failing to propose reforms and measures for biodiversity, sustainable agriculture and low carbon economy. Instead, actions such as rehabilitating state-owned irrigation systems not only contradict national strategies but might damage valuable wetland habitats. A lack of transparency and public dialogue casts a further shadow on the process.
Last chance for Member States to include biodiversity in recovery plans
April 12, 2021
Instead of proposing measures that protect nature, countries plan to spend recovery money on projects that jeopardise the EU’s biodiversity objectives. Countries can still reverse this worrying trend before it’s too late.
Biodiversity forgotten in the Latvian recovery plan
April 8, 2021
There is less than one month left for Member States to submit their national recovery and resilience plans to the European Commission. Yet, the Latvian plan is still far from fulfilling the Commission’s requirements to allocate at least 37% of proposed measures to achieving climate objectives.
