In 2004, alongside the significant expansion of the EU to 25 members with the addition of 10 new countries, primarily from central and eastern Europe, the Union took further steps to promote renewable energy and reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.  

In April, during the EBRD Annual Meeting in London, Bankwatch raised concerns about the environmental implications of the second phase of the large-scale oil and gas development on Sakhalin Island in Russia. 

In the same month, Manana Kochladze, Bankwatch’s Caucasus coordinator, received the Goldman Environmental Prize for her work on the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. The award recognised her success in exposing environmental and social violations, leading to crucial project concessions and subsequent official acknowledgements of the project’s failings.