For European public finance, where will all roads lead from Paris?
Blog entry | 22 April, 2016Signing the Paris Agreement is an important step in Europe’s contribution to the global effort to tackle the climate crisis. But funding this commitment necessarily passes through the public coffers. To kick-start the much-needed energy transition– by swiftly cutting emissions to reach the global carbon neutrality the Paris Agreement prescribes for the second half of this century –a change of paradigm in public investments in energy infrastructure is needed.
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Aid Transparency Index: improvements for Europe’s multilateral development banks but still a long way to go
Blog entry | 13 April, 2016As the 2016 Aid Transparency Review shows some improvement for the two main European lenders, they are still far from reaching satisfying transparency standards.
Read moreComplaint: Maladministration in the EIB’s appraisal and monitoring of the Nam Theun 2 dam in Laos
Publication | 6 April, 2016Eleven years after the European Investment Bank’s decision to support the construction of the
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Tensions are rising over hydropower and the lack of participation in Georgia’s mountains
Blog entry | 15 March, 2016The mistrust and frustration of communities in the mountains of north-western Georgia is deepening over make-shift consultations on large dam constructions.
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United Nations report highlights risks and failures of public-private partnerships
Blog entry | 14 March, 2016A United Nations study finds that public-private partnerships involve substantial risks for the public sector and have often failed to yield ‘value for money’.
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Guest post: Walking the line
Blog entry | 8 March, 2016Plans for the Southern Gas Corridor / Euro-Caspian Mega Pipeline will solidify the west’s dependence on fossil fuels and authoritarian regimes. A new web documentary shows why we should stop and think.
Read morePutting energy efficiency first. Reframing the European Investment Bank’s action in times of transition and uncertainty
Publication | 7 March, 2016The study shows how the European Investment Bank (EIB) has valid reasons to start embracing the energy efficiency first principle and implement it in its lending decision: significant energy savings will be needed regardless of the climate mitigation route taken and to enable the proper roll out of its climate strategy and lead the energy transition. The study looks at how the EIB can do this through its lending policies and financial decisions.
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Do not fund Southern Gas Corridor with EU money
Blog entry | 1 March, 2016The flashbulbs at Azerbaijan’s official photo opportunities should not blind Europe’s leaders to the country’s accelerated descent into authoritarianism, writes Xavier Sol.
Read moreBriefing on Nenskra hydropower plant for the European Investment Bank
Publication | 25 February, 2016The European Investment Bank (EIB) is in the early stage of assessing a loan for the 280 megawatt Nenskra hydropower plant, located on the Nenskra and Nakra rivers in the Caucasus mountain valleys inhabited by ethnic Svans. The poor quality assessment of the project, together with the neglect of the opinion of locals, threatens to aggravate the fading public acceptance of hydropower. With this project, the EIB and other potential international financiers have a chance to insist on changes to the imprudent course hydropower developments have taken in Georgia and to request tighter environmental and social regulations.
Read moreComplaint: non-compliance of the European Investment Bank’s Transparency Policy with EU and international law
Publication | 16 February, 2016This complaint, filed by Bankwatch, Client Earth and Counter Balance with the European Investment Bank’s complaint mechanism, addresses non-compliance of the European Investment Bank’s Transparency Policy with EU and international law on access to information.
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