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Eastern Europe climate plans struggle to keep pace with EU’s green ambitions

NECPs include the specific policies, measures and investments that each Member State will follow to reach the 2030 climate and energy objectives of the EU. Yet with the Commission upping its proposed emissions reduction target from 40 to 55 per cent, and the European Parliament voting on Tuesday 6 October for as much as a 60 per cent reduction, eastern Member States are woefully underprepared in their climate plans to fulfill EU pledges.

A Bankwatch report from July [2] documented the ways in which both Member States and the Commission could focus scant pandemic recovery funds in the post 2020 EU budget to build on the few positive investments present in the NECPs at the time. Whilst the Commission assessment today is a step towards identifying these positives, it had already concluded in September [3] that eastern Europe’s plans are unambitious and do not involve citizens enough. 

Raphael Hanoteaux, EU funds policy officer for CEE Bankwatch Network, said “These plans are not fit for purpose, and the Commission knows it. We are not on track to hit the updated 2030 target, meaning the NECPs cannot close on the European Green Deal.”

“Now the only way to effectively reach the 2030 and 2050 targets is by focusing on a green recovery and having an ambitious post 2020 EU budget. Business as usual will mean a lost decade for the climate.” 

For more information contact 

Raphael Hanoteaux, EU funds policy officer
CEE Bankwatch Network
E-mail: raphaelh@bankwatch.org

Notes 

[1] https://ec.europa.eu/energy/content/individual-assessments-and-summaries_en
[2] https://bankwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/EU-FUNDS-FOR-A-GREEN-RECOVERY-report-_July-2020.pdf
[3] https://ec.europa.eu/info/news/commission-publishes-assessment-national-energy-climate-plans-2020-sep-17_en

Worlds Rivers Day: Save European free-flowing rivers – end subsidies for small hydropower

WORLD RIVERS DAY PRESS RELEASE                                                                                  

Freshwater ecosystems are being lost at unprecedented rates. According to the latest Living Planet Report, populations of freshwater species have declined by 84% since 1970. 

In Europe, 60% of rivers are in bad health, degraded and destroyed by hydropower dams, dykes, drainage canals, pollution, unsustainable sand and gravel extraction, poorly planned navigation infrastructure, etc. It’s the most obstructed river landscape in the world. 

Despite this, on World Rivers Day, which this year falls on September 27th, it is worth celebrating that there are parts of Europe where rivers still run free.

The Balkans is home to some of the last free-flowing rivers in Europe, but they are under attack. Driven by substantial state-sponsored feed-in tariffs for renewable energy production, around 2,700 small hydropower plants are planned across the region, threatening to destroy hundreds of free-flowing rivers and streams – in total, losing more than 5,000 km of pristine rivers.

“Supported by the state, small hydropower development is a major threat to the Balkans’ rivers. It is also fuelling social unrest in the region, as more and more local communities are rising up against small harmful hydropower projects. The time has come for states to end subsidies for the destruction of nature and protect the last free-flowing rivers in Europe”, said Zoran Mateljak, WWF Adria Freshwater Program Manager.

Over the last ten years, the number of hydropower plants under 10 megawatts has quadrupled in Western Balkan countries. Governments have clearly favoured small hydropower development. In 2018, more than 70% of all renewable energy incentives in the region were spent on small hydropower. Yet, despite this, they generated only 3.6% of total electricity.

“The EU has already moved away from feed-in tariffs for all but the smallest projects, so the subsidies system now in place for hydropower in most Western Balkan countries directly contradicts the EU guidelines on state aid for environmental protection and energy” explains Pippa Gallop, Southeast Europe Energy Advisor at Bankwatch. “Governments must change the rules urgently to prevent any more unnecessary destruction of our rivers”. 

The disproportionate environmental and social damage caused by small hydropower compared to its energy generation potential has already been recognised by the Energy Community, the EU’s Technical Expert Group on the sustainable finance taxonomy, and in the EU’s Principles for Sustainable Hydropower Development in the Western Balkans. But Western Balkan governments have dragged their feet in halting subsidies and diversifying their renewable energy sources.

“As the countries of the Western Balkans are setting their 2030 renewable energy targets and policies, it is time to end subsidies for small hydropower projects and focus on more viable alternatives. Increasing energy efficiency and investing in wind and solar both have tremendous potential in the region if planned correctly and with public participation”, concluded both organizations.

-END-

Contact:

Pippa Gallop, Southeast Europe Energy Advisor, pippa.gallop@bankwatch.org, +385 99 755 9787

Danijel Loncar, program officer (communications), dloncar@wwfadria.org, +385 95 3894 799

Freshwater Conservationists Worldwide Implore Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Permanently Protect Europe’s Last Wild Rivers

This press release was originally published on Global Wildlife Conservation, you can reach the original press release here. 

Leading conservation organizations around the world are urgently calling on the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to turn a breakthrough resolution banning new small hydropower plants into law. The resolution, which holds no legal power yet, was initially passed June 23, but the deadline to permanently implement the resolution and permanently ban new small hydropower plants is Wednesday, Sept. 23. If the government fails to turn the resolution into law in the near future, they will again be putting at grave risk thousands of kilometers of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s wild rivers and the people and wildlife that depend on the waterways.

“This is an opportunity for Bosnia and Herzegovina to set a powerful example and become Europe’s leader in protecting some of the most intact and biodiverse rivers on the continent,” said Barney Long, senior director of species conservation at Global Wildlife Conservation. “We were encouraged by the recent resolution to protect the rivers, but for this to make any real difference, it must now be signed into law. Otherwise these small hydropower plants are going to continue to cause irreversible damage to the freshwater-dependent wildlife and people that live there, altering the balance of these ecosystems that contribute to the overall health of our planet.”

The rivers between Slovenia and Albania, including those in Bosnia and Herzegovina, are considered the most important hotspot for threatened freshwater biodiversity in Europe. Sixty-nine fish species in these rivers live nowhere else in the world. The Balkan Rivers—known as Europe’s “blue heart”—are home to marble, softmouth and prespa trout; the endangered huchen (or Danube) salmon; the endangered Balkan lynx; and the endangered white-clawed crayfish. They provide critical spawning habitat for many of the 113 endangered freshwater fish species in the Balkans.

The Balkans’ rivers continue to face an onslaught of small hydropower plant construction, including in protected areas, with plans for 3,000 dams to be constructed in the region. The dams bring with them the construction of access roads, tunnels, bridges, and transmission lines, with an influx of other human activities that require tearing down the forests around the rivers and that threaten the animals that live there. According to freshwater experts, if this is allowed to continue, at least 10 percent of all European freshwater fish species will go extinct or will be pushed to the brink of extinction.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature Freshwater Biodiversity Unit is currently reviewing proposals for 11 freshwater Key Biodiversity Areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the potential for more, underscoring that these sites are globally important for the health of the planet and for the persistence of biodiversity. Yet in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 436 small hydropower plants have either recently been built, are under construction, or are planned.

The projects are driven by local and foreign investors, with diverse financial support, including subsidies for renewables. Some investors use the argument that hydropower can help Bosnia and Herzegovina meet its goal of 40 percent renewable energy (one of the highest targets in Europe) to get the country a step closer to joining the European Union. Although current small hydro plants in Bosnia and Herzegovina only produce around 3 percent of the country’s annual energy and come at a huge environmental cost, the government has continued to grant permits and subsidies for these new small and medium hydro projects that have a negligible “renewable energy” contribution at a huge environmental cost.

“Bosnia and Herzegovina politicians see firsthand that small hydro evokes a visceral reaction across the country,” said Marsela Pecanac, founder of Atelier for Community Transformation – ACT. “Broad public support for rivers has swelled, energized by the local communities ready to defend their rivers with their lives. The politicians now have a unique opportunity to set a powerful example for the Balkans and Europe and ban all new hydro permanently with one swift action, creating a legacy for generations to come.”

Not only do the hydropower dams destroy the rivers and landscape around them, but they also divert and pollute water, and restrict access to clean drinking water for local communities and for use in agricultural practices and other livelihoods. The rivers also offer an opportunity for sustainable income through ecotourism, an industry that depends on healthy, intact rivers. And many Bosnia and Herzegovinia residents consider the rivers a part of their identity. Across the country, local communities, such as those around Neretvica and Kruščica rivers, have been rising up and holding protests, often forming human walls at construction sites to prevent bulldozers from starting the work.

“Whenever I visit the Balkan rivers, I am overwhelmed by the beauty and its richness,” said Ulrich Eichelmann, coordinator of the Blue Heart campaign from Riverwatch. “But what strikes me even more, is that people stand up for their rivers and streams—they don’t fight for money or fame, they fight for their rivers, their homeland and their future. This also is unique in today’s world. But these people need the help from all over the world. We must unite to save the Blue Heart of Europe.”

In addition to calling on the government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to formally ban the construction of small hydropower plants, the group of conservation organizations urges the other government entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska, to pass a similar law. After the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina initiative, Republika Srpska had also proposed a similar resolution earlier this year for a temporary ban of all small hydropower projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but eventually the National Assembly voted against it, despite significant local community pressure.

The organizations putting out the call are from a broad coalition including: 2020 Action, American Rivers, Arnika, Atelier for Community Transformation – ACT, CEE Bankwatch Network, the Coalition for the Protection of Rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, David Brower Center, EarthAction, Earth Law Center, EuroNatur Foundation, Freshwater Life, Global Wildlife Conservation, International Rivers, the International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission Freshwater Fish Specialist Group, the IUCN SSC Freshwater Conservation Committee, Institute for Environmental Security, Rainforest Action Network, The Redford Center, Riverwatch, Save the Blue Heart of Europe, Shoal, the World Fish Migration Foundation, World Future Council, and WWF.

Additional Quotes

Brent Blackwelder, president emeritus, Friends of the Earth U.S.
“The United States is abandoning building big dams and instead is removing dams in order to restore fisheries. Over 1,500 dams in the U.S. have been removed to save remarkable rivers and wildlife habitat.”

Darryl Knudsen, executive director, International Rivers
“Our earth is under assault, and we need to protect our wild rivers. The first time I saw the turquoise waters of the Soca river, my heart nearly stopped at its beauty. I hope someday also to visit the storied rivers of Bosnia…if they are still there. I am heartened by the popular and courageous resistance the Bosnian people continue to display to preserve their heritage rivers. And the Bosnian government has shown foresight with its resolution. Now is the time to codify the foreseen protections into law. Let’s remember:  hydro is NOT green power. Through methane emissions, dam reservoirs emit 2-3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, the equivalent of the climate impact of the entire global airline industry. Meanwhile, rivers provide the most biodiversity-rich habitat on the planet. If you want to protect the systems of life on earth for generations to come, there isn’t much you can do that’s better than stopping a dam.  Wind and solar are much more sustainable. We must act; the time is now.”

Jörg Freyhof, IUCN Freshwater Fish Specialist Group Steering Committee and regional chair for Europe
“The massive development of micro hydropower plants through the Balkan region will significantly affect many of the smaller tributaries that are valuable spawning and feeding habits for many species of fishes. The FFSG has worked with the Save the Blue Heart of Europe initiative for many years in looking for solutions to address this issue, and fully support this initiative.”

Pippa Gallop, southeast Europe energy advisor, CEE Bankwatch Network
“The hydropower boom in the Balkans is truly “death by a thousand cuts” for the region’s stunning rivers. Cutting the region’s vast energy wastage and unlocking its rooftop solar potential alone would contribute much more than small hydropower has.”

Ian Harrison, co-chair, IUCN SSC Freshwater Conservation Committee
“This call for a ban on small hydropower plants is an opportunity to make a truly positive impact on the way we manage and conserve our rivers in Europe. It represents a critically needed, forward thinking, investment not just in conservation, but an investment in the full range of ecosystem services that these rivers supply in support of nature and the people who rely on them and their associated habitats.”

Lejla Kusturica, activist and director of Foundation Atelier for Community Transformation – ACT
“One of the hardest and most painful injustices currently happening in Bosnia and Herzegovina is what’s happening to our environment. These rivers are the heart of our communities. In the past few years, our country has become a true hub of resistance, inspiring not just the region, but the rest of the world.”

Eduardo Noboa, senior programme manager climate energy, World Future Council
“Hydroelectric plants have intertwined and complex impacts which could generate more costs than benefits. There are many cases and examples from other regions in the world where there are innumerable water infrastructure projects that have caused significant impacts on ecosystems, people, livelihoods and culture. Instead of investing more trillions on high-risk hydropower projects, ambitious programmes for deployment of decentralised and distributed non-conventional renewable energy should be promoted where needed.”

Annette Spangenberg, head of project unit, EuroNatur Foundation
“The rivers of the Balkans are a European treasure, one we cannot afford to lose. We support the local communities in their fight for their rivers and will make sure that their voices will be heard all over Europe.”

Bernie Tershy, Freshwater Life
“Dam construction has peaked in the world’s wealthy countries and more old dams are being removed than new ones constructed. Bosnia and Herzegovina shouldn’t be pursuing an energy development strategy that the EU and North America have largely rejected.”

Jill Tidman, executive director, The Redford Center
“This is a critically important moment in which we all must take a stamd to protect what remains of our intact ecosystems and waterways, and the lives that depend on them. We are proud to stand with these distinguished organizations in this effort.”

 Wouter Veening, president, Institute for Environmental Security
“By enshrining its forward-looking resolution into law, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina will give its wild rivers the long-term protection they deserve and thus contribute to the ecological well-being of the Balkans, the wider European region and the world as a whole.”

Lois Barber, executive director, EarthAction
“Rivers are the lifeblood of our planet. We need to keep them healthy and free-flowing!”

 Dragana Skenderija, coordinator, the Coalition for the Protection of Rivers Bosnia and Herzegovina
“Private investors invest money in small hydropower plants and make a profit, while the people do not benefit from their construction. Ultimately, only great damage is created for the environment, and financial losses through taxes and subsidies on renewable energy sources turn into profit for private companies.” The ban on the construction of SHPPs in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the abolition of incentives for SHPPs are the most important demands that the Coalition for the Protection of Rivers of BiH demands from decision makers.”

 Zuzana Vachůnová, activist and coordination of activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Arnika
“The people of Bosnia and Herzegovina are not only protecting the last European wild rivers, but also the rule of law in their country. Local communities must have a say about the projects that affect them, but this is not happening; the small hydropower plants are mostly permitted without proper involvement of the locals and thus violate the basic principles of environmental democracy. We stand with people of Bosnia and Herzegovina and call on the governments to finally protect the valuable nature and the basic rights of the local communities.”

 Herman Wanningen, founder and managing director of the World Fish Migration Foundation
“Across Europe we are starting to see more in-stream barrier removals to reduce river fragmentation and degradation. Still, 60% of Europe’s freshwater ecosystems are not healthy according to the Water Framework Directive. Therefore, it is illogical to build new dams in the very few healthy rivers left in Europe.”

Grant Wilson, executive director and directing attorney, Earth Law Center
“Hydropower is not truly ‘renewable’ energy because it permanently devastates aquatic ecosystems and species, and therefore should not be part of Europe’s renewable energy future. We urge the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to follow through with its ban of small hydropower plants in order to create a future in which rivers and local communities thrive together in harmony.”

MEPs gas a green EU budget by voting for fossil fuels in Just Transition Fund

Proposed in January 2020 by the Commission to support a sustainable phase-out from fossil fuels in Europe’s carbon-dependent regions, the fund was set to be fossil free after EU heads of state backed the Commission’s proposal. MEPs later walked back on this commitment in July by voting in favour of funding for fossil gas.

Raphael Hanoteaux, EU funds policy officer for CEE Bankwatch Network, said “This vote sends a troubling signal as the EU continues to hammer out the details for the rest of the EU Budget, with 900 billion euros at stake in the Cohesion Policy and the Recovery and Resilience Facility. The full exclusion of fossil fuels across all funds is crucial in order to concentrate on a sustainable and just transition and recovery.”

“By allowing fossil gas in the fund, MEPs have condemned Europe’s fragile regions to decades more polluting energy. This hampers the EU’s prospects to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, and shows that MEPs are still unable to walk the talk when it comes to closing the European Green Deal, especially now that the Commission has announced a new target of 55 per cent for greenhouse gas emissions reduction by 2030.”

For more information contact

Raphael Hanoteaux, EU funds policy officer
CEE Bankwatch Network
E-mail: raphaelh@bankwatch.org

EU-China leaders’ meeting: EU must do more to tackle legal breaches by Chinese companies in Europe, say civil society organisations

Chinese SOEs have been particularly active in southeast Europe in recent years. Contracts have been signed to build four new coal plants, rehabilitate two coal plants, investments in heavy industries and build other infrastructure such as motorways and railways At least three more memoranda for new coal plants have been signed (2). Chinese companies have also bought the Smederevo steel plant and the Bor copper mine, and are planning to build a tyre factory in Zrenjanin, all in Serbia.

Despite Chinese policy guidelines (3) requiring compliance with host country legislation, most of the projects breach national and EU environmental, procurement and State aid law.

For example:

  • None of the projects are in line with the latest EU pollution control standards, the so-called LCP BREF, from 2017.
  • Most have very weak environmental assessment studies, and the Drmno mine expansion in Serbia had none at all.
  • The Tuzla 7 project in Bosnia and Herzegovina has become notorious due to a Federal loan guarantee that is now subject to an infringement procedure by the Secretariat of the Energy Community Treaty due to State aid violations. 
  • Due to a blanket exemption in a 2013 agreement between Serbia and China, Chinese projects in Serbia do not undergo tender procedures (4), in clear violation of EU procurement rules which undermine the rule of law and Serbia’s ability to ensure value for money. 

“Quite often we hear that these are win – win projects. Unfortunately this is true only for the Chinese side that is producing and exporting all of the equipment and using Chinese workers to install it. For BiH side this is more of a lose – lose case, since we will end up with a huge debt and a stranded asset“, stated Denis Žiško from the Center for Ecology and Energy in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, who has been closely monitoring the Tuzla 7 and Banovići coal power projects. 

Chinese SOEs and media have often asserted (5) that new coal-fired power plants contribute to environmental and social improvements in already-polluted locations. By approving its companies to undertake coal projects in Europe, China fails to deliver its pledge to combat climate change in an understanding reached with the EU at the 20th EU-China Summit (6).

Mirko Popović of the Renewables and Environmental Regulatory Institute (RERI) in Serbia finds this highly unlikely: “it seems that the recent installation of non-functional desulphurisation facilities in Kostolac thermal power plant, and significant increases of air pollution in Bor and Smederevo, are examples of Chinese investment business models and their relations with political actors in Serbia. The lack of environmental law enforcement and transparency in these cases is worrisome and will significantly undermine Serbia’s EU accession agenda“, he stated.

“The need to limit climate change clearly means that no more fossil fuel infrastructure can be built anywhere. Southeast European governments bear the primary responsibility for poor decision-making and enforcement on Chinese-built projects, but they will ultimately create problems for the whole EU as the accession countries struggle to comply with EU law,” warned Zvezdan Kalmar from CEKOR, Serbia. 

The groups are asking the EU to: 

  • Clearly tell China to stop building new coal plants in EU and accession countries
  • Set this and compliance with EU law as binding conditions in the comprehensive investment on trade (CAI) currently being negotiated with China. 
  • Improve law enforcement in accession countries, including by strengthening the Energy Community Treaty to enable penalties to be issued. 
  • Introduce a carbon border tax for electricity to help reinforce the message that coal is no longer economic.

Contacts:

Wawa Wang, Senior Advisor, VedvarendeEnergi. Phone: +45 81949469 E-mail:ww@ve.dk  

Denis Žiško, Energy and climate change program coordinator, Center for Ecology and Energy, Tuzla, E-mail: denis.zisko@ekologija.ba, Tel: +387 61 140 655

Mirko Popović, Programme Director, RERI – Renewables and Environmental Regulatory Institute, mirko.popovic@reri.org.rs, Tel: + 381 11 451 45 28

Zvezdan Kalmar, Coordinator for energy, climate change, and monitoring international financial institutions, CEKOR, kalmar.zvezdan@protonmail.com, +381655523191

Pippa Gallop, Southeast Europe Energy Advisor, CEE Bankwatch Network, pippa.gallop@bankwatch.org, +385 99 755 9787

Notes for editors:

(1) This press release is issued by the following groups:

  • Center for Ecology and Energy Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • CEE Bankwatch Network, Czech Republic
  • Climate Action Network Europe
  • Renewables and Environmental Regulatory Institute – RERI, Serbia
  • Sustainable Energy (VedvarendeEnergi), Denmark
  • CEKOR, Center for ecology and sustainable development, Serbia 
  • Center for Environment, Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Eco-team,Montenegro

(2) These projects include:

Contracts signed:

Memoranda of understanding signed:

For more on Chinese involvement in energy sector projects see a joint briefing by Bankwatch and VedvarendeEnergi, here: https://bankwatch.org/publication/chinese-built-coal-projects-in-europe and ve.dk/chinese-built-coal-projects-in-europe/  

(3) The Green Credit Guidelines (2012) and the Green Investment Principles for the Belt and Road Initiative (2019) signed by 30 international and Chinese financial institutions, including China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China.The signatories pledged to embed sustainability into corporate governance, set up robust systems, designate competent personnel, and maintain acute awareness of the potential impacts of investments and operations on climate, the environment and society in the BRI region.

(4) On 20 August 2009 the Serbian government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Chinese government on economic and technical co-operation in the field of infrastructure. Annex 2 to the 2009 agreement was signed on 26 August 2013. This annex includes a clause in Article 5 that (our translation): “Agreements, contracts, programmes and projects carried out in accordance with Article 4 of the Agreement on the territory of the Republic of Serbia do not carry an obligation to publish a public tender for carrying out investment works and delivery of goods and services, except if it is otherwise specified in the commercial contract from paragraph 4 of this Article.”

(5) For example at: http://www.xinhuanet.com/power/2019-08/22/c_1210251184.htm

(6) See Joint Statement of the 20th EU-China Summit at: https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/china_en/48424/Joint%20statement%20of%20the%2020th%20EU-China%20Summit

Georgia’s billion dollar dam violates international standards

After more than two years of investigation, the Nenskra hydropower plant (HPP) project in Georgia was found non-compliant with the standards of two international financial institutions.1

The project does not meet the banks’ requirements in the following areas of human rights and environmental protection: indigenous people’s rights, the protection of cultural heritage, gender issues, assessment and management of environmental and social impacts, information disclosure and engagement of local communities and other stakeholders.

The investigation of the long-debated Nenskra HPP, planned to be constructed in the Svaneti mountains of Georgia, was launched after complaints2 were submitted to the EBRD and EIB in 2018 by CEE Bankwatch Network, Georgian non-governmental organisation Green Alternative, and community representatives from the potentially affected areas. 

Both the EBRD and EIB have approved loans for the Nenskra HPP project, in the amount of USD 214 million and USD 150 million respectively. However, neither has signed the final loan contracts yet. The Asian Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank are also involved in the project and are currently considering loans totalling USD 414 million.  

The news that the project fails to comply with international standards comes as yet another controversy for the 280 MW hydropower plant project, which has already been the subject of years of opposition from local communities, warnings about its financial liability by IFIs, and abandonment by a major construction contractor, to name just a few. 

The Nenskra HPP is intended to be one of the largest dams in Georgia’s plans for massive hydropower installations in the Upper Svaneti region. JSC Nenskra, a joint venture of Korea Water Resources Corporation and the Georgian State’s Partnership Fund is the Nenskra HPP project promoter. The HPP project was also financed by Korean Development Bank.  

Anna Roggenbuck, EIB Policy Officer at CEE Bankwatch Network said: ‘ EIB Complaints Mechanism confirmed our allegations that this project simply violates the rights of the impacted community of Svans who risk their livelihood and culture being swept by the Nenskra project. The Mechanism confirmed that the project has been improperly implemented from the very beginning starting with the problematic consideration of the project’s alternative option. It is hard to imagine how the Bank could now effectively prompt the necessary corrections. Withdrawing public financing for this project is the only right way in this case.’

David Chipashvili, International Financial Institutions Monitoring Program Coordinator at Green Alternative: ‘I highly appreciate that IPAM [the EBRD Independent Project Accountability Mechanism] has found a number of areas of non-compliance, especially regarding lack of assessments of the project alternatives. Unfortunately, the EBRD and EIB have promoted the project without proper technical and financial justification, which can have not only irreversible environmental and social impacts, but also drastic financial impacts too, as other IFIs indicated earlier. In 2017 and 2018, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank revealed assessments that pointed at specific threats to the fiscal stability of Georgia’s budget by incurring over USD 1.8 billion in fiscal costs between 2022 and 2041. Therefore providing public funding for the project is not reasonable and needs to be cancelled’. 

For more information contact:

David Chipashvili, Green Alternative, Bankwatch Campaigner for Georgia
Email: dchipashvili@greenalt.org

Anna Roggenbuck, Bankwatch, EIB Policy Officer
Email: annar@bankwatch.org

Rusudan Panozishvili, Green Alternative, Bankwatch Media and Community Coordinator
Email: panozishvili@greenalt.org

1 Nenskra HPP Compliance Review Report EBRD Project Complaint Mechanism Case 2018/08 July 2020; CONCLUSIONS REPORT 7 February 2020,Nenskra HPP Complaint SG/E/2018/32 Georgia

2 Request to the EBRD’s PCM on the Nenskra HPP project, May 30, 2018; The complaint to Complaints Mechanism of the European Investment Bank , June 1, 2018