A clear and present danger – How financial institutions and authorities have failed to address the human impacts of resettlement in Serbia’s lignite mining fields
Publication | 25 September, 2015This study shows how the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has failed to enforce several of its basic principles on involuntary resettlement in the Kolubara Mining Basin, one of the largest sources of lignite in Europe, where mining has continued for over fifty years.
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Financing the post-2015 agenda – the problematic role of development banks
Blog entry | 24 September, 2015The heavy involvement of international financial institutions in the post-2015 development agenda raises serious questions for civil society around the world on whether the SDGs will manage to address the root causes of inequality, poverty and environmental degradation.
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Guest post: Italian mayors protest against the Trans Adriatic Pipeline
Blog entry | 22 September, 2015Local opposition in Italy to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) is mounting. During a business event organised last week, a dozen mayors staged a protest against the government’s support for the project, who together with civil society and local authorities fear that the pipeline will destroy the environment and the safety of their communities. Instead they are demanding that EU drop the project.
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Slovenia and the Energy Union: clash in priorities, renewables as collateral damage
Blog entry | 17 September, 2015A leaked document, published here for the first time, that outlines the Slovenian government’s priorities for the EU’s Energy Union reveals a potential conflict with what the European Commission has on offer. Yet, neither promises ambitious strides towards more renewables.
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Images and graphs: Large-scale agribusiness in Ukraine and local communities
Blog entry | 14 September, 2015Ukraine’s agriculture was the only sector in the country to grow in 2014. International investors are happy to point this out – and the role they are playing in financing these investments. Our investigation, however, shows that cheap Ukrainian food products are coming at the expense of severe impacts on local communities.
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Rural communities in Ukraine bearing the brunt of unchecked agribusiness expansion, say two new reports
Press release | 14 September, 2015Residents in Ukraine’s southwest are facing environmental decline, intimidation and deteriorating quality of life as a result of the rapid emergence of Europe’s largest poultry farm, finds a report released today by CEE Bankwatch Network. Owned by Mironivski Hliboproduct (MHP), Ukraine’s biggest poultry producer, the Vinnytsia project has been enjoying hefty support from Europe’s public financial institutes and the World Bank, and plans to double the facility’s size are only likely to exacerbate its social and environmental impacts, shows another report released today by the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO).
Read moreBlack earth – Agribusiness in Ukraine and the marginalisation of rural communities
Publication | 14 September, 2015Given Ukraine’s abundant land resources and food production potential, modernisation of agriculture is necessary and industrialisation is inevitable. Yet, an investigation into the Vinnytsia poultry complex shows the negative side effects of large-scale industrialisation of meat production and sounds the alarm about the risks that agroholdings pose to communities.
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[Campaign update] Romanian government support for controversial power plant project to be made public, EBRD loan cancelled
Blog entry | 9 September, 2015Bankwatch’s Romanian chapter has been granted access to environmental information included in a letter sent by Romania’s Ministry of Economy in support of a loan from the Euoprean Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to Oltenia Energy Complex (OEC), Bucharest’s administrative court ruled yesterday. The letter will shed light on the nature and extent of the government’s support for the project, and whether it was in line with EU regulations.
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Investigation launched into Mongolian iron ore mine financed by European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for impacts on local communities
Press release | 3 September, 2015Updated September 10, 2015* Amsterdam/Ulaanbaatar/Prague – Last week, the independent accountability mechanism of the EBRD announced it will investigate *the Bank’s compliance with its environmental and social standards at a mine it finances and is operated by Altain Khuder in the Gobi-Altai region of Mongolia. The investigation comes in response to a complaint filed to the EBRD’s Project Complaint Mechanism (PCM) in December 2014 from herders affected by the project.
Read moreAzerbaijan: Sport for Rights coalition condemns sentencing of journalist Khadija Ismayilova
Press release | 1 September, 2015The Sport for Rights coalition strongly condemns the sentencing of Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova to a staggering 7.5 years in jail. On 1 September, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes convicted Ismayilova on charges of embezzlement, illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion, and abuse of office. Ismayilova was acquitted of the charge of inciting someone to attempt suicide. Sport for Rights considers the charges against Ismayilova to be politically motivated and connected to her work as an investigative journalist, particularly her exposure of corruption among the ruling Azerbaijani elite.
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