EBRD financing new small hydro power projects in Ukraine: off on the wrong foot
Publication | 10 May, 2013In 2009 the EBRD established the EUR 50 million facility to support the development of small-scale projects in all renewable energy generation sectors, including hydro, wind, biomass and solar power. While the initiative is welcomed and timely, the first projects to be developed were not transparent practices in the project development, jeopardising the whole notion of renewable energy as sustainable and socially-acceptable.
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Guest post: Development banks and the Arab Spring, new report takes stock
Blog entry | 6 May, 2013A new report takes a critical look at the engagement of European development banks in Egypt after the popular uprisings in the Middle East and North African region. This article appeared originally on the Counter Balance blog and has been shortened and slightly edited.
Read moreInput for online questionnaire on Projects of Energy Community Interest
Publication | 29 April, 2013Our input expresses our main concern relating to the need to develop an energy sector in southeast and eastern Europe that is in line with EU environmental and climate policies and legislation, as well as one which addresses the increasing problem of energy poverty through sparing and efficient energy use. We underline the need for the PECIs projects to be in line with current and forthcoming EU legislation and policies on climate, environment, renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Read moreNGO letter regarding Projects of Energy Community Interest
Publication | 29 April, 2013The letter accompanied Bankwatch’s and other NGOs’ input to the public consultation on the proposed Projects of Energy Community Interest in the electricity, gas and oil sectors. With the letter, civil society groups jointly address several important matters about the process, scope and selection criteria. See also Bankwatch’s inputs to the consultation.
Read moreUkraine’s Nukes Are in Breach of UN Convention
Press release | 22 April, 2013Kiev – Ukraine’s expansion of the lifetime of its old nuclear reactors is in breach of the UN Espoo Convention, ruled the body monitoring the implementation of this international agreement, because Kiev went ahead with the prolongation of the use of its old reactors without assessing the impact this may have on neighbouring countries.
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Guest post: New studies fail to prove that the Ombla hydroplant is fit for EBRD financing
Blog entry | 22 April, 2013The EBRD’s involvement in the Ombla hydropower plant project has from the start been a story of insufficient scrutiny and cutting procedural corners, followed by an attempt to patch things up by commissioning a belated nature impact assessment. The assessment highlights the Ombla area’s natural importance and captures some of the harm that would be done by the dam, but fails to draw the right conclusions, says Jagoda Munic, President of Friends of the Earth International and Biodiversity Programme Co-ordinator at Zelena akcija/Friends of the Earth Croatia.
Read moreLetter to EBRD: Espoo Convention confirms Ukraine’s non-compliance with Ukraine’s international obligations regarding nuclear reactors’ lifetime-extensions
Publication | 22 April, 2013The Implementation Committee under the Espoo Convention concluded in March 2013 that the extension of the life-times of two nuclear reactor units at the Rivne NPP are a case of non-compliance with Ukraine’s international obligations. The two units are part of a, EBRD financed project and got their life-time extensions in 2010 without preparing an environmental impact assessment (EIA) and with no information provided to potentially affected neighbouring states.
Read moreThe climate crisis and the role of Europe’s public banks
Publication | 22 April, 2013With each passing day, there is less chance that we will manage to keep the planet within the “safe” limit of two degrees Celsius global warming that would avoid disastrous climate change. The European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development can play a pivotal role in leveraging more private investment for sustainable energy. Both institutions are now reviewing their energy lending policies.
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EBRD with disastrous start in Kosovo, European Parliament not amused
Blog entry | 19 April, 2013The European Parliament yesterday chastised the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for its explicit interest in financing a new lignite-fired power plant in Kosovo. NGOs hope the bank will pay more attention to the Parliament than it did to civil society and energy experts so far.
Read moreEuropean Parliament wants green energy, not coal, as part of Kosovo integration
Press release | 19 April, 2013The European Parliament yesterday blasted the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for considering financing of the planned USD 2 billion Kosova e Re lignite power plant near Pristina.
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