The EBRD’s new Mining Operations Policy: A commentary on consultation process and content
Publication | 2 November, 2012The long awaited EBRD Mining Operations Policy was released last week without much noise. It has taken the EBRD more than 3 years to prepare a document which had raised hopes it could improve the bank’s activities in the mining sector. Most of these hopes, however, have not been fulfilled.
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How Ukraine can survive without nuclear – renewable energy potentials reviewed
Blog entry | 22 October, 2012A closer look at Ukraine’s energy strategy reveals fundamental flaws in the government’s plans to continue using old nuclear reactors and its rhetoric of nuclear being the only possible alternative.
Read moreCovering the Balkans in Soot: The New European Energy Community Strategy Favours Fossil Fuel Reliance
Press release | 17 October, 2012Brussels — Neighbouring countries of the EU from the Western Balkans to Ukraine are planning unsustainable energy futures relying on coal and nuclear. An energy strategy for the region to be approved Thursday by the European Energy Community indicates that such investments in dirty fuels could happen with EU support and financing.
Read moreNew Slovene legal requirements for Šoštanj lignite power plant (TEŠ 6) regarding CCS
Publication | 17 October, 2012On September 8, 2012 new legislation entered into force in Slovenia that requires TEŠ to prepare an assessment of the CCS readiness for its new Unit 6. Pursuant to this legislation, proper assessment of the CCS readiness for the Unit 6 has not taken place yet. As a result, TEŠ has not met the legal requirements regarding the CCS assessment and therefore it is not possible to determine its CCS readiness under the Slovene law. Letter available as pdf: Letter to the European Investment Bank >>> Letter to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development >>>
Read moreComments on draft European Energy Community Strategy – an unsustainable energy future
Publication | 15 October, 2012Neighbouring countries of the EU from the Western Balkans to Ukraine are planning unsustainable energy futures relying on coal and nuclear. The energy strategy of the European Energy Community indicates continued reliance on coal and nuclear energy which could happen with EU support and financing.
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Money, and the EU’s climate agenda, to burn: EBRD mining strategy on a carbon collision course
Publication | 9 October, 2012With the EBRD due to sign off on its new mining strategy in November this year, 22 MEPs have pointed out in an open letter to European commissioners that given the state of the policy draft the bank risks contradicting the EU Resource Efficiency Roadmap and responsible mining principles. At risk of being compromised too, Bankwatch believes, are the EU’s 2020 strategy and EU commitments on climate change and biodiversity protection.
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Trust us, we’re euphoric – Private equity and a tax haven part of the EBRD’s first post-Arab Spring swoop
Publication | 8 October, 2012For its first loan to ‘Arab Spring’ countries the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has chosen vehicles and partners whose ability to deliver developmental value is highly uncertain.
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How the facts got in the way of a good EBRD Roma headline
Publication | 8 October, 2012This summer’s ‘silly season’ featured a a blog post on the EBRD website replete with the claim that the bank has helped turn Serbia into a “role model for social inclusion of Roma”. This claim immediately rang hollow in light of the ongoing plethora of abuses of Roma rights in Serbia.
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The Oil Road – How a done deal continues to unravel
Publication | 8 October, 2012The Oil Road by James Marriot and Mika Minio–Paluello is a remarkable recounting of their journey along the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline from Azerbaijan to the City of London. It is a narrative peppered with a wealth of cultural, social and economic history and kaleidoscopic insight from the Caspian region and beyond.
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Egypt’s turmoil is a distraction from the west’s economic agenda
Publication | 8 October, 2012The storming of the US embassy in Cairo has diverted attention once again from the real issues facing Egypt. It couldn’t have come at a better time for those who want to convince the Egyptian people to accept an International Monetary Fund loan and other western IFI interventions, and thus extend former president Hosni Mubarak’s liberalisation of the economy.
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