As human rights declaration turns 70, development banks have a ways to go to respect and protect rights defenders
Blog entry | 10 December, 2018Today 10 December marks the seventieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. To coincide with this milestone, Bankwatch together with more than 200 organisations globally has called on international financiers [1] to ensure that these institutions support the realisation of human rights, avoid causing or contributing to rights abuses, promote an enabling environment for public participation, and safeguard rights defenders.
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Time for the EU’s bank to lead on the clean energy transition
Publication | 7 December, 2018As world finance paces up to adapt to the global fight against climate change, one main player is lagging behind: the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union’s bank.
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European Parliament warns Balkan countries to stop destructive hydropower
Blog entry | 6 December, 2018The European Parliament urged the EBRD and EIB to review their support for hydropower plant projects in its last week’s resolutions on the European Commission’s 2018 reports on Albania and Montenegro. The votes come as a clear sign that the European institutions are starting to reconsider their support for hydropower as green energy.
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Will the long-awaited bypass road pave the way to reconciliation?
Blog entry | 15 November, 2018Villagers in rural Olyanytsya, in central Ukraine, are hopeful that village life is about to become a lot more bearable. After putting up with intense heavy vehicle traffic from the industrial farming operations of agro-giant Mironivsky Hliboproduct (MHP) for years, the company has finally finished building a bypass road to divert traffic around residential areas.
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Leaked World Bank report depicts Georgia’s Nenskra hydropower project as major liability
Blog entry | 14 November, 2018Successive international analyses have cast serious doubts over the financial viability of the planned Nenskra plant. While the Georgian government keeps the project’s contract confidential, a leaked World Bank report offers a scathing account of the fiscal implications of this hydropower development.
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Controversial dam project in Georgia abandoned by constructor
Blog entry | 30 October, 2018Already mired by controversy, the billion dollar Nenskra hydropower plant is now facing another major hurdle as the company contracted to realize the project is now leaving it.
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The complaints mechanism at the EIB – usable but useless?
Blog entry | 8 October, 2018Nearly three years after first announcing it, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has finally presented a new vision for the bank’s complaints mechanism, the body responsible for grievances related to EIB projects and policies.
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European public banks continue financing coal bonanza
Blog entry | 1 October, 2018The EIB and EBRD have been channelling billions of euros in public money to fossil fuels dependent companies, hampering the international community’s efforts to tackle climate change.
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European Investment Bank and financial intermediaries: key issues and way forward
Publication | 30 September, 2018Counter Balance, Bankwatch and partners have identified a persistent lack of transparency and assessment of the economic, environmental and social impact of the EIB’s intermediated operations, which may undermine development impacts. So far they have n
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65 groups from 28 Countries tell EBRD and EIB to stop financing fossil fuels
Publication | 28 September, 2018The letter is written on the need to ensure the ongoing energy reviews at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank are aligned with the Paris Agreement goals.
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