Joint civil society comments on the EBRD biodiversity standards (ESR 6)
Publication | 29 May, 2024Ahead of the EBRD’s Annual Meeting, 12 civil society organisations submitted their collective input on the revised draft of the EBRD’s Environmental and Social Policy, focusing on standards related to biodiversity conservation and sustainable management of living natural resources.
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Why is rebuilding the Kakhovka dam not the best option for Ukraine?
Publication | 29 May, 2024After the collapse of the Kakhovka dam in 2023, some stakeholders support the reconstruction of the dam, while others are willing to support the restoration of the natural landscape on the site of the former reservoir.
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The EBRD’s (ir)responsible exit from the Amulsar gold mine project in Armenia
Publication | 29 May, 2024The engagement of the EBRD in supporting the Amulsar gold mine in Armenia in its early stages resulted in adverse environmental, social, economic, and human rights impacts. The EBRD terminated funding to the client and exited the project, but the harm remains unremedied.
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Delays in Almaty CHP-2 gas project open new opportunities for a rethink
Publication | 29 May, 2024Supported by the EBRD, the conversion of Almaty’s coal heat and power plant CHP-2 to gas has been seriously delayed. This opens an opportunity for a rethink: Why is the EBRD continuing to support this project instead of funding a clean and potentially cheaper type of heating?
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Gender mainstreaming in urban mobility investments
Publication | 29 May, 2024In many cities around the world, moving freely, safely and without constraint remains a daily challenge for vulnerable groups including women. In this paper, we identify shortcomings in the EBRD’s implementation of gender mainstreaming in the urban transport sector and make recommendations for improvement.
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Learning from multiple crises to build resilient agri-food systems
Publication | 29 May, 2024While the EBRD investments helped increase agricultural production in its countries of operation, there is an urgent need to address the regional and global challenges. This can be done through sustainable investment into small and medium farms, phasing out large-scale livestock production, investing in circularity and decarbonisation
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Suggestions for integrating considerations of land concentration impacts into the EBRD’s safeguards
Publication | 29 May, 2024Based on our experience with the EBRD’s investments in the agricultural sector, we have worked with the Land Matrix Initiative to formulate recommendations for the EBRD to integrate considerations of the impact of land concentration into its safeguards.
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Georgia’s democratic future at stake: Russian-style ‘foreign agents’ bill threatens civil society and independent media
Publication | 27 May, 2024On 3 April 2024, Georgia’s ruling party revived the controversial ‘Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence’, which labels independent media and civil society groups as foreign agents. The move, coming just over a year after initial proposals were dropped, has sparked widespread protests once again.
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Joint civil society letter to the EBRD President on Georgia’s draft law on Transparency of Foreign Influence
Publication | 27 May, 2024More than 30 international and national civil society organisations have joined the call to the President of the EBRD, Odile Renaud-Basso, to condemn the Foreign Agents Law, which is an attack on civil society and independent media and risks jeopardising their activities and the success of business operations in Georgia.
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Comments on the draft Environmental and Social Policy with a focus on human rights due diligence
Publication | 27 May, 2024The EBRD’s safeguards revisions show some progress, but the Bank needs to strengthen its own environmental and social due diligence, particularly in the area of human rights, to prevent human rights abuses through early risk identification and effective mitigation.
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