How can the EBRD maximise its leverage to bring about decarbonisation?
Publication | 19 June, 2018The economic viability of coal is ever decreasing. Without public financial support many coal investments are doomed to fail. Yet several institutions are still willing to finance an energy source that wrecks our climate, damages our health and wastes
Read moreComplaints to IFC and EBRD regarding their investments in MHP
Publication | 5 June, 2018The complaint alleges that since the start of MHP operations in Vinnytsia in 2010, continuous odor and dust from a significant and growing number of facilities and the application of manure on nearby fields has made local life untenable. MHP activities
Read more
Request to the EBRD’s PCM on the Nenskra hydropower project
Publication | 30 May, 2018The conclusions of the EBRD’s Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) are not guided by detailed field work and focus group research with the affected communities – indigenous Svans, nor are they based on the robust and objective analysis of
Read more
The loan that made sense until it didn’t
Blog entry | 11 May, 2018During the annual meetings of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the bank is the subject of a complaint for policy violations via a EUR 200 million loan to Serbia’s state-owned energy utility: money earmarked to prepare the fossil fuels-based company for the realities of adhering to stricter EU legislation will instead enable it to extract and burn even more fossil fuels.
Read more
Nenskra hydropower project – May 2018 update
Publication | 10 May, 2018The banks have a responsibility to ensure that when they make an investment, they mitigate and avoid situations that put persons at risk. The Nenskra dam in Georgia is one example where the lack of proper environmental and social assessment can potenti
Read more
Low-carbon transition as it should be: three steps for the EBRD to have fewer headaches with hydropower projects
Publication | 10 May, 2018While it is positive that banks want to finance the much-needed transition away from coal towards renewable energy in the Balkans, it is crucial to ensure that the cure is not worse than the disease. Most of the projects planned in the Balkans are smal
Read more
EPS restructuring loan
Publication | 10 May, 2018Despite its commitments to increase the share of renewables under the Energy Community and reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the process of EU accession, the Serbian government seems determined to remain locked-in to a carbon intensive energy syst
Read more
The EBRD strategy for Uzbekistan
Publication | 9 May, 2018Changes in the approach to governance put forward by the President Shavkat Mirziyoyev deserve to be encouraged by the international community. It is natural that the EBRD is ready to provide support to a country willing to accelerate reforms. However,
Read moreComments on the EBRD safeguard policies
Publication | 11 April, 2018Relying on its experience in monitoring EBRD projects in recent years, Bankwatch re-assessed the EBRD Public Information Policy (PIP) and Environmental and Social Policy (ESP). EBRD Public Information Policy (PIP) 2014 General comments Specific comment
Read moreComments on the existing EBRD Energy Sector Strategy from 2013
Publication | 27 February, 2018Bankwatch reviewed the EBRD’s energy lending during the strategy period and used this lens to look at the text of the bank’s 2013 Energy Strategy: what needs to be continued and strengthened and what needs to be changed. The focus is on priority issues
Read more
