New analysis: Belgrade incinerator public-private partnership a textbook case of corporate capture
Press release | 4 December, 2019The Belgrade solid waste public-private partnership (PPP) has been plagued by legal irregularities and circumvented binding decision-making processes, finds a new analysis published today by CEE Bankwatch Network, Counter Balance and Zero Waste Europe.
Read moreDirty palms: European Development Banks need better due diligence and accountability to prevent human rights abuses
Blog entry | 29 November, 2019Long considered the standard-setters in the world of development finance, Multilateral Development Banks are now at an important junction. Europe’s development financiers must step up their accountability and commitment to protection of people and nature.
Read moreWorld’s largest multilateral bank ends fossil fuels financing
Press release | 14 November, 2019Brussels, Prague — Bankwatch, Counter Balance and a growing number of civil society groups have long been calling on the European Investment Bank (EIB), the EU’s house bank, to recognise the urgency of stemming the climate crisis and stop handing out public money to fossil fuel projects. Today, November 14, the bank’s Board of Directors adopted a new Energy Lending Policy that ends financing for most fossil fuels projects.
Read moreKenyan village burned down weeks after EIB withdraws from energy project planned at the same place
Blog entry | 6 November, 2019The geothermal power plant Akiira 1 in Kenya’s Nakuru county is planned to be built nearby the place the village of Lorropil used to stand until last Sunday.
Read moreEU bank drops Belgrade incinerator, citing impact on recycling: EBRD and other banks press on
Press release | 28 October, 2019Prague, Belgrade – The European Investment Bank (EIB) has refrained from financing the planned Vinča municipal waste incinerator in Belgrade, Serbia, according to a letter sent to the Ne Davimo Beograd initiative that campaigns against the project.
Read moreMajor gas projects in Romania enabled by regulatory acrobatics – report
Press release | 17 October, 2019At a time when public calls for tackling the causes of the climate crisis are growing, Romania’s gas industry has been expanding, courtesy of the Parliament and international financial institutions.
Read moreDecision on a fossil fuels ban at the EIB postponed once more
Press release | 15 October, 2019Today the European Investment Bank (EIB) decided to again, postpone the long overdue adoption of a new Energy Lending Policy. This delay is mostly due to tensions around the EIB’s proposal to phase out lending to fossil fuels. Several shareholders, including Germany, and the European Commission are pushing back on what would be a precedent in the fight against climate change.
Read moreEuropean Commission criticises the EIB’s role as a development bank
Blog entry | 11 October, 2019The European Commission recently published an evaluation of EIB development operations under its External Lending Mandate during the period 2014-2018. The Commission’s findings confirm our previous assessments and repeated calls for improvements in the fields of transparency, human rights due diligence and development impacts of EIB projects.
Read moreThe EU’s flagship investment scheme must not become backdoor for fossil fuel financing
Blog entry | 7 October, 2019A half trillion euro subsidies scheme and part of the so-called Juncker Plan, the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI) has been portrayed by its promoters, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank as a major success story, albeit with little evidence to back such claims.
Read moreSetting precedent, EU bank to drop all fossil fuels funding beyond 2020
Press release | 26 July, 2019Prague, Brussels – The European Investment Bank, the house bank of the EU, is proposing to end financing for all fossil fuels beyond 2020, becoming the first multilateral financial institution to make such a commitment in line with the Paris Agreement.
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