Energoatom director confirms EBRD money will support nuclear lifespan expansion
Press release | 22 July, 2011The “Ukrainian NPP Safety Upgrade Package Program” currently under consideration for financing by the EBRD, will enable the lifespan expansion of old Soviet-time nuclear reactors, confirmed Gennady Sazonov, project and investment director of the production company Atomproektinzhynirynh, speaking during the first public consultations on the draft ecological assessment of the programme that was held in Kiev early this week.
Read moreEBRD should not condone illegal resettlements and corruption by investing in Kolubara
Press release | 21 July, 2011Belgrade – Next week, the EBRD is deciding whether to invest 80 million Euros in the Kolubara „environmental improvement” project in Serbia. With the help of this money, state-owned Elektroprivreda Srbija (EPS) will expand lignite production in Serbia at the cost of forcefully resettling local communities. CEKOR and CEE Bankwatch Network urge the EBRD to rethink this investment.
Read more18 000 ask Slovenia to adopt clean energy. EBRD and EIB, take a hint.
Blog entry | 5 July, 201118 000 people from around the world have asked the Slovene government to adopt a future proof National Energy Plan that doesn’t rely on fossil fuels or nuclear energy. Bankwatch research coordinator Pippa Gallop took part in handing over the list of signatories yesterday and points out that European public banks also need to take the message seriously.
Read moreEBRD: Don’t open pandora’s box with lignite open cast mine in Serbia
Blog entry | 4 July, 2011Before making any decisions on the planned EUR 80 million loan for the Kolubara lignite mine project in Serbia, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s Board of Directors should take note of the controversy the bank will get involved in. Not only are the climate impacts of lignite well known, but the project is also indirectly connected to the resettlement of nearby residents.
Read morePolish Presidency highlights EU climate paradox
Press release | 1 July, 2011As Poland starts its EU Presidency today, serious doubts loom over its willingness to provide ambitious leadership on EU climate policies. Paradoxically, it is the EU’s own public banks which are sponsoring the country’s unfettered coal industry, the root cause of Polish climate scepticism.
Read moreVideo: Polish perspectives on the EU presidency
Blog entry | 1 July, 2011Today Poland takes the helm of the EU presidency, but the country’s recent move to unilaterally block a 25 percent reduction target for EU carbon emissions has solidified expectations that Poland would hinder a more ambitious EU climate policy agenda.
Read moreCivil society groups in the Arab region say Western financial aid plan could divert the revolutions’ goals of economic and social justice
Press release | 27 June, 2011Arab civil society and international NGOs are opposing the EU and US backed financial aid package for post-revolutionary countries in their region on the grounds that it could damage the democratic transitions and divert the revolutions’ goals of economic and social justice.
Read moreDeja-vu in Belgrade
Blog entry | 22 June, 2011Bankwatch’s coordinator in Serbia Zvezdan Kalmar finds himself in a situation similar to the one when campaigning on the Gazela bridge project: Roma families live in uncertainty about when they’ll be resettled to make way for road construction, all the while with little influence about how decisions are made.
Read morePublic finance for mining must bring more than a mirage of development benefits in Mongolian desert
Press release | 13 June, 2011Ulan Baatar, Mongolia – Civil society groups are demanding that investments from international financial institutions to extract resources in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert guarantee that livelihoods are protected for those living near the mines and profit windfalls are used as an impetus to social and economic development for the region.
Read moreTransparency improvements grind to a halt at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Blog entry | 10 June, 2011Bankwatch research co-ordinator Pippa Gallop discusses the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s draft public information policy and how the bank has come to a standstill with improving its transparency rules.
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