Updates on the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Information request regarding justification for approval of the Kolubara lignite mine project

The letter poses questions regarding the environmental and social appraisal for the Kolubara lignite mine project and the due diligence carried out by the EBRD before the project’s approval by the EBRD: How has the EBRD assessed the corporate behaviour of the Kolubara and EPS companies towards communities affected by the extension of mining operations? How has the EBRD defined the project’s influence in the Kolubara basin? Can EBRD staff provide studies or numbers justifying Serbia’s need for further growth of coal production?

18 000 ask Slovenia to adopt clean energy. EBRD and EIB, take a hint.

18 000 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.

EBRD: Don’t open pandora’s box with lignite open cast mine in Serbia

Before 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.

Video: Polish perspectives on the EU presidency

Today 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.

Polish Presidency highlights EU climate paradox

As 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.

Civil society groups in the Arab region say Western financial aid plan could divert the revolutions’ goals of economic and social justice

Arab 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.

Deja-vu in Belgrade

Bankwatch’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.

Letter reiterating Vinci’s failure to respect Global Compact commitments on human rights

Bankwatch and the Movement to Defend Khimki Forest wrote to the Global Compact on 28th March 2011 regarding Vinci’s non-compliance with its Global Compact Commitments in relation to the first section of the Moscow – St. Petersburg motorway project. Our letter subsequently formed the basis of an enquiry to Vinci by the Business and Human Rights and Human Resource Centre, to which Vinci responded on 26th April 2011. Having carefully reviewed Vinci’s response, we still believe that the company is not in compliance with its Global Compact commitments.

Briefing: The EBRD and the Serbian coal sector

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and German development Bank KfW are considering supporting the development of a new field in the lignite open pit mine in the Kolubara mining complex in Serbia. Interestingly, the investment is categorised as “Environmental Improvement” on the EBRD’s website. But no matter how efficient future processing is, investments into perpetuating lignite production – the dirtiest of fossil fuels – instead of clean electricity generation alternatives rather resembles re-arranging the deck-chairs on the Titanic than serious ‘environmental improvement’.

Arab civil society and international groups against diverting the revolutions’ economic and social justice goals through conditionalities imposed by international financial institutions