The EBRD and EIB’s Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure Investments in the Western Balkans and Eastern Neighbourhood
Publication | 26 May, 2020From October to December 2019, Bankwatch conducted research on CSOs’ perceptions of the impact of EBRD and EIB investments in municipal infrastructure on local communities in the Western Balkans and Eastern Neighbourhood.
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Slovene prosecutors file charges over coal plant corruption
Blog entry | 25 May, 2020The long-running saga of Slovenia’s overpriced Šoštanj 6 coal power plant took a dramatic turn last week when Slovene prosecutors filed charges including money laundering against 12 people and two companies. Meanwhile, in 2018, the Šoštanj power plant as a whole generated a net loss of EUR 58.5 million. Why are nearby Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina – both countries that are planning new coal plants – not learning any lessons?
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The Road Less Travelled: How the European Investment Bank’s Climate Roadmap 2021-2025 can lead it to become the climate bank
Publication | 20 May, 2020This report summarises the EIB’s undertakings on the road towards becoming the EU’s Climate Bank. It presents our findings on the implementation of the EIB’s 2015 Climate Strategy and looks at the results of the Bank’s climate action in the EU and enlargement countries. It also puts forward recommendations to the Bank.
Read moreStatement on the EIB Group‘s response to economic consequence of COVID-19, May 2020
Publication | 19 May, 2020CEE Bankwatch Network’s statement on the EIB Group‘s response to economic consequence of COVID-19.
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A herd of white elephants is approaching the EU’s neighbours
Blog entry | 30 April, 2020Over three quarters of the energy projects proposed by the EU’s neighbours for priority status, including privileged access to public funds, are fossil fuels projects.
Read moreEIB Climate Bank Roadmap
Publication | 29 April, 2020CEE Bankwatch Network’s submission for the Stakeholder engagement on the EIB Group’s Climate Bank Roadmap 2021-2025: Turning ambition into reality.
Read moreNGO letter to EIB President on Covid-19 crisis response
Publication | 28 April, 2020Bankwatch and 11 other civil society groups have written to President of the European Investment Bank, Werner Hoyer, to urge the bank to move quickly to solidify the EIB’s claim to be the “EU Climate Bank”, enhance its transparency, and make it a centr
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The Commission must stay strong on EU sustainable investment criteria as they become law
Blog entry | 24 April, 2020As the European Commission moves to legislate on criteria regulating what can be defined as sustainable investments, Bankwatch warns that activities such as waste incineration, gas combustion and nuclear energy must not be allowed to sneak in at the last minute.
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Croatian hydropower plant highlights loopholes in EIB environmental policies
Blog entry | 2 April, 2020The EIB-financed Ilovac hydropower plant was built on the river Kupa in north-west Croatia at around the same time as scientists established the existence of a new fish species there – Alburnus sava. Since the dam’s construction, the species has not been found at the site. Has Alburnus sava’s habitat been degraded for just 1.4 MW of installed power?
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Gone with the Flow, A case study of biodiversity loss caused by Ilovac Hydropower plant, Croatia
Publication | 2 April, 2020This case study aims to demonstrate that the EIB’s environmental and social (E&S) and transparency policies are insufficiently equipped to prevent the negative impacts of hydropower plants on sensitive ecosystems, in particular when the hydropower project (1) is financed via an intermediary bank and/or (2) is located outside of the EU.
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