The transport sector in the EU must de-carbonize. Is the EIB ready to contribute to it?
Publication | 26 November, 2010The issue paper provides facts about the EIB’s performance in the transport sector since the approval of the current transport policy in 2007. While transport investments represent a large share of the EIB’s portfolio in the EU 27, transport GHG emissions in the EU are continuously rising.
Read moreHave you voted in the 2010 worst EU lobbying awards yet?
Blog entry | 5 November, 2010ArcelorMittal, one of the candidates for the worst EU lobby award, is the world’s largest private steel company, producing 10 per cent of the world’s steel. It is also one of Europe’s largest emitters of CO2. Yet the company successfully lobbied the European Commission on behalf of Europe’s biggest polluters to continue getting free greenhouse gas emissions permits until at least 2020.
Read moreBaseball bat attack hospitalises Khimki Forest activist, latest violence connected with controversial Moscow-St Petersburg motorway plans
Press release | 4 November, 2010Environmental and human rights activist Konstantin Fetisov of Khimki near Moscow was today assaulted near his house by unknown assailants wielding a baseball bat and is now in a serious condition in hospital.
Read moreRotten perceptions, grim reality Turkmenistan off the agenda in European Parliament, Nabucco still nowhere near fit for purpose
Blog entry | 26 October, 2010Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, launched today, confirms Turkmenistan’s position as one of the world’s least democratic regimes. Promoters of the Nabucco gas pipeline project have opted to adopt a surprisingly tolerant approach to Turkmenistan’s endemic failings.
Read moreBankwatch Mail 46
Publication | 4 October, 2010In this issue: A sustainable EU budget – it’s time to cut the crap * Khimki forest reprieve brings no cessation of underhand tactics * EU funds flows for smart flood prevention can save billions and lives * Rip it up and almost start again – New EU funds priorities for Hungary * EU funds for Latvia’s environment up in smoke * Conference – The private sector turn: Private equity, financial intermediaries and what they mean for development (November 22, London) * EBRD financial sector strategy revision reveals few lessons learned from crisis * Energy and transport failings in the east – a challe
Read moreBankwatch input to EC consultation on an EU initiative on concessions
Publication | 30 September, 2010The European Commission (EC) has recently invited inputs to its consultation on an initiative on concessions that aims to improve the rules for concession contracts in the EU. PPP advocates insist on their cost-effectiveness, timely completion rates and the sharing of financial risk – yet so far the evidence for these claims is decidedly mixed. In our comments we call for a thorough and independent assessment of the performance of PPPs so far and their financial and social impact.
Read moreBankwatch input to the consultation on the future TEN-T Network Policy
Publication | 15 September, 2010Bankwatch’s comments to the consultation on the future of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), the vast Europe-wide network of roads, rail, air and water transport raise concerns among others about the lack of an overall vision in the European Commission’s consultation documents so far and about the European Investment Bank’s role in the implementation in the revised policy.
Read moreKhimki Forest activist arrested for holding banner during picket action
Blog entry | 13 September, 2010Russian activist Yaroslav Nikitenko was arrested by police on Saturday during a legally permitted picket action in the town of Khimki near Moscow. The action was part of the campaign to change the route of the planned Moscow-St Petersburg motorway so that it avoids the Khimki Forest.
Read moreNabucco and Turkmenistan – Our energy security, Turkmens’ misery
Publication | 10 September, 2010This paper examines the less obvious aspects of the Nabucco gas pipeline project – its possible impact on Turkmenistan, a country notorious for its grave human rights situation and the dictatorial tendencies of its political leaders. It also discusses how, with a lack of public oversight over gas revenues in Turkmenistan, the construction of Nabucco may lead to the strengthening of one of the most brutal regimes currently in existence.
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