EBRD support for Kolubara locking in Serbia’s CO2 emissions
Publication | 12 May, 2012Linked to a slew of controversies, the Kolubara lignite mining project in Serbia is in line for support from European public banks. Corruption allegations, pollution at local level, irregularities in resettlement of local populations and not to forget a climate damaging approach to energy investments should be reason enough to find alternative options.
Read moreBoskov Most Hydro Power Plant, Macedonia
Publication | 9 May, 2012The project Boskov Most HPP involves the construction of a 33 m high dam and a hydro power plant with a total capacity of 68MW. It is mostly located in the territory of the Mavrovo National Park, one of the oldest and most valuable protected areas in the country. Since this is only one of many hydropower projects planned in the country, civil society organisations are calling for an assessment of the cumulative effect of all HPPs planned in the Mavrovo National Park before any further steps are taken.
Read moreEnvironmental standards in hydro power projects in Georgia
Publication | 9 May, 2012In recent years Georgia’s government has sought to position the country as a future regional renewable energy hub. Governmental plans include the construction of transmission lines and numerous hydropower plants (HPPs), in order to ensure electricity exports to Turkey and subsequently to gain access to the south-east European market by 2015-2017. The number and technical design of the planned HPPs do not comply with the principles of sustainable development, and they are bound to have serious negative impacts on the environment.
Read moreComments on the EBRD’s Municipal and Environmental Infrastructure Strategy
Publication | 6 May, 2012One of Bankwatch’s main concerns with the EBRD’s municipal and environmental infrastructure strategy is the bank’s approach towards public-private partnerships, which one the one hand is more cautious than before. On the other hand however, while the bank’s analysis recognises some of the drawbacks, it still too openly promotes them.
Read moreEBRD fresh plans show intent to pour more public money into coal
Press release | 26 April, 2012Brussels – In a draft mining strategy published yesterday, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) made it clear that it intends to continue investing in the coal sector for years to come.(1) Supporting the coal sector with European public money is unacceptable, according to CEE Bankwatch Network, as it undermines the EU’s climate policy and the transition to a decarbonised European economy that the EU and the EBRD both claim to support.(2)
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Chernobyl at 26: nuclear dynamite is growing in Ukraine
Blog entry | 26 April, 201226 years ago, the days after the nuclear accident in Chernobyl had been marked by the glaring lack of information. Today, Europe’s population is similarly clueless as back then about the nuclear risk brewing in Ukraine.
Read moreExpert comment on cutback in production at Kumtor gold mine due to massive flow of ice and waste rock into the mine
Publication | 25 April, 2012Centerra Gold’s announcement that the February 2012 ice and waste fall into the Kumtor pit will result in a cutback in gold production indicates that the measures the company has put in place to address the causes of past pit wall failures have been ineffective since those measures were not effective at preventing Davidov ice and waste from falling into the open pit and causing the current production cutback.
Read moreSlovenia: The EBRD freezes loan disbursements in Alstom’s coal project over corruption allegations. NGOs call on the EIB to follow suit
Press release | 18 April, 2012Paris, 18 April 2012 — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced that it is freezing the disbursement of the promised EUR 100 million loan for the construction of a new lignite block at thermal power plant TES 6 in Šoštanj, Slovenia. The decision by the EBRD comes after a group of Slovenian and international NGOs approached the EBRD asking for the bank to halt the loan until corruption allegations are investigated.(1)
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Suspension or no suspension, the EBRD freezes disbursements for the Šoštanj lignite power plant
Blog entry | 18 April, 2012With the decision to freeze the disbursement of a loan for the Šoštanj lignite power plant in Slovenia, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development seemingly reacts to the many controversial points Bankwatch and other organisations have raised about the project.
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Khimki Forest activist wins Goldman Environmental Prize
Blog entry | 16 April, 2012One of this year’s winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize is Russian Khimki Forest defender Evgenia Chirikova, but the good news is being overshadowed by continued violence against other Khimki activists.
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