Europe has ambitions to become a global leader in the fight against climate breakdown. Transforming the continent’s energy systems and shifting towards climate-friendly alternatives requires massive investments, especially in central and eastern Europe, where outdated infrastructure and a reliance on fossil fuels persists.
The good news is that the EU has the financial means to fund this transformation. The challenge is ensuring that the investments of today are geared towards addressing the climate crisis and Europe’s declining state of nature.
We know that when people have a voice in investment decisions, the results speak for themselves: more acceptance and ownership of spending and a greater chance that harmful and wasteful projects are avoided.
We work to ensure that EU financial flows address the climate crisis and do no harm to people and nature. We do this by involving the public in the design and spending of EU investments.
IN FOCUS
Just transition
Countries across central and eastern Europe are committing to quit coal and shale oil. Now the task is to ensure that the just transition is driven from the bottom up and leaves no one behind as we move towards a sustainable energy future.
Building back biodiversity
Threats facing biodiversity are increasing alongside the drivers of the climate crisis. But investments in climate protection should not come at the expense of those that can help biodiversity. The two crises of climate and biodiversity are interconnected and both must be tackled together, because only by investing in nature can we tackle climate change.
RegENERate: Mobilising Regions for Energetic Re-development and Transformative NECPs
The overall objective of the project is to support the CEE countries’ contribution to the EU efforts towards a net-zero emissions future. The project will contribute to more ambitious and effective climate and energy policies in CEE, backed by a long-term commitment to phase out fossil fuels, improve energy efficiency and promote renewable energy.
RePower the Regions: Ambitious and inclusive clean energy plans for repowering the just transition regions
The participation and leadership of carbon-intensive regions in transitioning to clean energy solutions are prerequisites for achieving EU climate neutrality by 2050. Building on this premise, RePower the Regions aims to ensure that the regions’ clean energy plans are aligned with EU 2030 climate goals and have strong support locally, and to provide practical guidelines and roadmaps on how to repower the regions.
Latest news
Silesian coal – a quiet exit
Blog entry | 27 November, 2017In Upper Silesia, Poland’s main coal region, it is difficult to find anyone who still believes that coal has a future. The region needs help in dealing with the environmental fallout from decades of a coal-centred economy and a platform to debate and define its destiny.
Read moreLocals in Upper Nitra, Slovakia agree on the future of their region after coal phaseout
Campaign update | 22 September, 2017One of the positive outcomes of the debate about Europe’s Energy Union was an increased attention to the issue of Just Transition*. Even more promising is that the debate is moving from Brussels to the very regions that are facing an imminent coal phaseout. One of those regions is Horna Nitra /Upper Nitra in Slovakia.
Read moreMaking the coal phase out fair for workers – unions, companies and environmentalists discuss just transition in Romania
Blog entry | 11 April, 2017A Romanian coal mining region is writing history today as representatives from unions, the coal industry and environmental organisations are coming together for the first time to discuss their communities’ future – with a common goal in mind.
Read moreRelated publications
EU funds: Protecting or damaging nature? How to avoid harmful projects
Briefing | 21 October, 2024 | Download PDFThe following recommendations how to prevent projects that damage nature from being financed in the future are based on the case studies from Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Poland and Slovenia.
Joint NGO proposals on the GAWB Action Plan: Parts 1 and 2 – Action Plan and Roadmaps
Briefing | 1 October, 2024 | Download PDFThis paper, developed by a group of NGOs led by Bankwatch, provides suggestions on combining the Action Plan and Roadmaps, updating the planned actions, and cancelling some which are too unclear or poorly defined.
Joint NGO proposals on the GAWB Action Plan: Part 3 – governance, monitoring, reporting and other mechanisms to support the implementation of the Sofia Declaration
Briefing | 1 October, 2024 | Download PDFThis paper, developed by a group of NGOs led by Bankwatch, provides suggestions to improve the Green Agenda’s governance, monitoring and reporting.