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Statement on the European Parliament ITRE Committee vote

CEE Bankwatch Network, Friends of the Earth Europe and Counter Balance welcome yesterday’s vote to earmark EUR 5 billion for energy savings projects across Europe by the Parliament’s Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE). The funds were allocated via an amendment to the European Fund for Strategic Investment regulation proposed by Commission president Juncker in December 2014. The vote also requires that any energy infrastructure project financed from the EUR 315 billion investment plan be in line with Europe’s long term energy and climate targets for 2050.

Markus Trilling of CEE Bankwatch Network and Friends of the Earth Europe said:

“This is the clearest signal so far from Europe’s elected officials that the new investment plan must prioritise green investments such as renewables and energy efficiency projects, and reject dirty energy infrastructure. Now the Council of Ministers and the Commission must play ball as the legislation is negotiated, and member states should follow the foresight outlined in Parliament. Governments committed to a low carbon future need to work with all stakeholders to ensure the modernisation of Europe’s economies.”

Xavier Sol of Counter Balance said:

“Prioritising sustainable investments is crucial for getting more out of the Juncker plan which so far has been lacking a clear direction. However more democratic oversight and transparency are needed to guarantee the long term sustainability of the recovery plan.”

Governments in central and eastern Europe in particular are expected to take this as another sign that Europe is moving away from fossil fuels and towards a clean energy future. At the heart of this should be higher standards of energy and resource efficiency and more renewable energies. Resources to make this required transition are available – both in the form of the Juncker Investment Plan and in the regional development funding.

People around the world are increasingly calling to making fossil fuels history, and yesterday’s decision at the ITRE Committee makes it even harder to justify financing for new coal and gas infrastructure projects. This kind of long term perspective will also be needed in the Monday vote in the Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) Committee.

For more information please contact:

Markus Trilling
EU Funds Campaigner
Friends of the Earth Europe – CEE Bankwatch Network
markus.trilling@foeeurope.org
+32 484 056 636

Xavier Sol
Director
Counter Balance
xavier.sol@counter-balance.org
+32 2 893 08 61

Development Banks Urged to Review Support for Mekong Dams, 10 Years After Nam Theun 2

Amsterdam/Bangkok/Manila/Prague/Tokyo – Non-governmental organizations are calling on the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and European Investment Bank (EIB) to publicly acknowledge the millions of dollars of failed investment in their flagship project, Nam Theun 2. This 1070 MW dam has failed to bring intended development benefits, and instead has unleashed a range of negative impacts on the affected populations in central Laos.

Press release by International Rivers, Mekon Watch, Focus on the Global South, NGO Forum on the ADB, Both Ends and CEE Bankwatch Network.

On March 31, 2005, the World Bank approved the provision of US $153 million for the development of Nam Theun 2. Exactly ten years ago, on April 1, 2005, the ADB offered $90 million to the Government of Laos and the Nam Theun 2 Power Company , while the EIB and France’s Agence Française de Développement also pledged millions of dollars towards the project. Nam Theun 2 began operations in 2010, displacing over 6,300 indigenous people to make way for the 450km2 reservoir and affecting more than 110,000 people downstream along the Xe Bang Fai River, a tributary of the Mekong River. Over 90% of the electricity generated is exported to Thailand.

According to Tanya Lee, Lao Program Coordinator for International Rivers, “The development benefits outlined in World Bank and ADB promotional material have never been achieved, including protection of the watershed area, accountability in public revenue earnings and livelihood restoration for those displaced and the downstream populations.”

“Over the past ten years, we have carried out systematic research with villagers living downstream along the Xe Bang Fai River and have documented the devastating impacts of the project. Some of the impacts of Nam Theun 2 include a dramatic drop in wild fish catches, flooding of low-lying rice fields, inundation of riverbank gardens used for food cultivation, and recurring skin rashes from the now turbid river water,” she continued.

These problems are confirmed by the World Bank’s project-specific ratings, which currently evaluates overall implementation progress of the project to be “moderately unsatisfactory”.

The ADB and World Bank-financed Panel of Experts (POE) has also noted similar problems. In their most recent report, dated December 2014, the POE warned that the Government of Laos had failed to comply with the project’s Concession Agreement by not providing necessary support to the livelihood programs for affected villagers. In addition, the POE has highlighted:

  • the lack of sustainable employment and access to resources for the resettled population;
  • the poor quality of land allotments and limited possibilities for food or cash crop cultivation in the resettlement areas;
  • heavy reliance of locals displaced by the project on the lucrative trading of illegal wildlife and timber to pay for daily necessities;
  • unmet livelihood restoration commitments for downstream communities; and
  • the lack of access to livelihood programming for 67 affected villages in the surrounding area, which were instead only compensated with one-time cash handouts.

According to Rayyan Hassan, Executive Director of the NGO Forum on the ADB, “Ten years since the disbursement of millions of dollars in loans, we are challenging the World Bank, ADB and EIB to seize this opportunity. They must revise their attempts to uphold Nam Theun 2 as a success story, and recognize the need for all affected villages to receive restorative reparations. The falsehoods perpetrated by those involved in the Nam Theun 2 Dam that the project is sustainable has side-tracked regional governments and the public from engaging in comprehensive energy options assessments, demand-based forecasting and planning, and advancing renewable decentralized energy source options.”

“Nam Theun 2 was the beginning of the current rush to build dams on both the Mekong mainstream and its tributaries. While the ADB directly finances large-scale hydropower projects in the region, the World Bank Group along with ADB are promoting hydropower interests by funding transmission line projects, offering private sector loans, technical assistance and knowledge exchange to hydropower companies and consultancy firms, and facilitating working groups to establish a regional power grid,” explained Toshiyuki Doi, Senior Advisor for Mekong Watch.

He continued, “As a result of the ‘development aid’ and investments in the hydropower sector, they have caused local communities to suffer. Rather than helping to achieve poverty alleviation, communities impacted from large scale dams in the Mekong Region have experienced a severe loss of access to natural resources, land-grabbing, impoverishment and dislocation due to forced resettlement. Instead of helping to encourage public participation in decision-making where environmental, social and human rights safeguards standards are fragile or non-existent, large scale dam building in the region is shutting out the voices of villagers, human rights defenders and sustainable development advocates.”

Shalmali Guttal from Focus on the Global South concluded, “The World Bank, ADB and EIB remain completely unaccountable for their actions. The bills for their expensive mistakes will be picked up by local populations in Laos and the Mekong Region. They must publicly acknowledge their complicity in the destruction caused by Nam Theun 2, and take legal, financial and moral responsibility for the damages to peoples’ lives and the environment. The failures of Nam Theun 2 provide more than enough evidence for these banks to stop supporting large-scale hydropower development projects in the Mekong Region.”

Media Contacts:

Toshiyuki Doi, Senior Advisor
Mekong Watch
Ph: +66869742941
toshi-doi@mtd.biglobe.ne.jp

Tanya Lee, Lao Program Coordinator
International Rivers
Ph: +60193746433
tlee@internationalrivers.org

Shalmali Guttal
Focus on the Global South
s.guttal@focusweb.org

Notes for the editors

1. Nam Theun 2 Power Company is owned by a consortium comprising of Electricity de France International (35%) Thailand’s Electricity Generating Company of Thailand (25%), Italian Thai Development Company Limited (15%), and the Government of Lao PDR (25%).

2. World Bank. Projects: Nam Theun 2 Social and Environment Project. “Ratings”.
http://www.worldbank.org/projects/P049290/nam-theun-2-social-environment-project?lang=en
Accessed 1 April 2015.

3. Nam Theun 2 Power Company. Twenty Third Report of the International Social and Environmental Panel of Experts. 29 December 2014.
http://namtheun2.com/images/stories/poe/poe23.pdf
Accessed 1 April 2015.

94 percent against new coal power plant in Croatian local referendum

Labin, Croatia – 94 percent of voters have today rejected the proposed new 500 MW Plomin C coal power plant [1] in a local referendum in Croatia. Residents of five districts of Istria County answered a resounding ‘No’ to the question “Are you in favour of building the Plomin C power plant to run on coal?”

The referendum follows a similarly successful initiative in the coastal town of Ploce on 25 January this year, in which over 90 percent of voters voted against a proposed coal plant in the town.

“Plomin C is harmful to people’s health and the climate, will cost electricity consumers heavily, and will hinder Croatia in switching to a renewable energy-based energy system. The Croatian government and project promoter Hrvatska Electroprivreda (HEP) must respect the will of the local people and stop this project immediately,” commented Bernard Ivcic of Zelena akcija/Friends of the Earth Croatia.

“This referendum provides an opportunity to turn around Croatia’s energy sector and make our country a leader in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energy,” he added.

Contacts:

Bernard Ivcic, Zelena akcija/Friends of the Earth Croatia, bernard@zelena-akcija.hr
Mobile: +385 99 314 9138

Pippa Gallop, CEE Bankwatch Network, pippa.gallop@bankwatch.org
Mobile: +385 99 755 9787

Notes for editors:

[1] For more information about Plomin C, see:
https://bankwatch.org/our-work/projects/plomin-coal-power-plant-croatia

Statement: EU trade secrets directive threat to free speech, health, environment and worker mobility

Multi-sectoral civil society coalition calls for greater protections for consumers, journalists, whistleblowers, researchers and workers

We strongly oppose the hasty push by the European Commission and Council for a new European Union (EU) directive on trade secrets because it contains:

  • An unreasonably broad definition of “trade secrets” that enables almost anything within a company to be deemed as such;
  • Far-reaching legal remedies for companies whose “trade secrets” have been “unlawfully acquired, used or disclosed”, including provisional and precautionary measures, damages and secrecy rights throughout the judicial process; and
  • Inadequate safeguards that will not ensure that EU consumers, journalists, whistleblowers, researchers and workers have reliable access to important data that is in the public interest.

The proposal must be amended to ensure that only information acquired, disclosed or used by third parties with intention of commercial gain is protected under the directive.

Download the full statement as pdf >>

Bankwatch statement on today’s EU Council decision about the ‘Energy Union’

Europe’s leaders have failed today to live up to their commitments and make the EU’s energy future more sustainable. The Commission’s ‘Energy Union’ strategy endorsed today by EU Heads of States prioritises new fossil fuel infrastructure at the expense of investments into energy savings and clean energy sources.

“One such project – a gigantic, USD 45 billion gas pipeline from the Caspian sea to Europe – is completely senseless, because Europe already has more gas import infrastructure than it needs. For the last ten years, gas demand in Europe has fallen, and the Commission’s own forecasts predict further decreases by 2050, so this mega-project will only be a white elephant.

“If the so-called Southern Gas Corridor plan does materialise and starts to pump gas from Azerbaijan, it will not address the security of supply questions that Europe seeks answers for as it distances itself from the import of Russian gas. Rather, the project will fuel the oppressive authoritarian regime of Ilham Aliyev and its abhorrent track record of human rights violations and complete disregard for democratic principles.

“Ultimately, while the EU has repeatedly pledged to spearhead global efforts in combating climate change, this kind of project commits the EU to a prolonged dependence on fossil fuels. Believing it offers Europe a sustainable energy future is nothing more than deception.”

For more on the false promise of this project, see the report Pipe Dreams: Why the Southern Gas Corridor will not reduce EU dependency on Russia published in January 2015:
https://bankwatch.org/publications/pipe-dreams-why-public-subsidies-lukoil-azerbaijan-will-not-reduce-eu-dependency-russia

Markus Trilling
EU Policy officer, CEE Bankwatch Network

Electricity export ambitions may prove risky for Western Balkans, shows new study


The Western Balkans countries [1] have strong electricity export ambitions that create the danger of stranded assets, finds a new report launched by CEE Bankwatch Network today. If governments take electricity expansion decisions without taking due account of developments in other countries, the region will have to compete with other nearby exporters and may find that its power plants become uneconomic.

The study was carried out for CEE Bankwatch Network by the University of Groningen and the consultancy ‘The Advisory House’ and it can be found at
https://bankwatch.org/sites/default/files/WBalkans-stranded-assets.pdf

The complete dataset can be downloaded at
https://bankwatch.org/sites/default/files/WBalkans-stranded-assets-dataset.xls

It analyses the electricity supply and demand patterns of countries in the Western Balkans for the next ten years and examines their export prospects. The results show that if the countries realize their planned capacity extensions, the region will have a 56% electricity surplus in 2024, suggesting significant export ambitions.

In particular Bosnia and Herzegovina could turn into the largest exporter of electricity (up to 20 000 GWh), followed by Serbia (18 000 GWh). The other countries have a much lower potential contribution [2] to the regional surplus, but measured in terms of their domestic demand, their export potential is substantial.

Such significant electricity capacity expansions designed to meet export demand create the danger of becoming dependent upon the export market. The export analysis shows that there will not only be competition within the Western Balkans (in particular between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina) but also from other nearby competitors such Bulgaria, Romania and the rest of the EU. Given an expected excess supply in Europe, increased competition may put pressure on export prices and increase the risk of incurring stranded assets – power plants that will become simply uneconomic to even operate. For this reason, the study suggests closely examining investments that are directed to serve export markets and to also consider the trade-off of producing or buying electricity.

The study finds a wide gap between the planned capacity and actual progress in constructing new power generation capacity, meaning that significant surpluses for export are likely to materialise only after 2019. In the meantime, the study recommends making use of increased regional co-operation to meet peak demand and taking measures to reduce electricity losses.

“This study shows that it is time for governments to re-examine their plans and go for quality not only quantity when it comes to electricity generation”, says Pippa Gallop, CEE Bankwatch’s research coordinator. “Most of the countries plan many more coal and hydropower plants than they actually need or can afford, but with more strategic planning, attention to energy efficiency and regional co-operation to cover peak demand, the region could enjoy a much more realistic and rational energy future.”

The report will be presented at a press conference in Belgrade, Serbia, on March 25. For more details please contact Ido Liven at ido.liven@bankwatch.org

Bankwatch coordinators will also be available for interviews in Podgorica, Montenegro, on March 23 and in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on March 26.

Notes for the editors:

1. The countries included in the study are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. (According to the UN, the official name for Macedonia is “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”. The designation “Kosovo” is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence)

2. Montenegro 2000 – 5000 GWh, Macedonia 2000 GWh, Albania 2000 GWh, Kosovo 2.500 GWh

For more information please contact:

Pippa Gallop
Research Coordinator, CEE Bankwatch Network
pippa.gallop@bankwatch.org
Tel.: +385 997 559 78

Ioana Ciuta
Energy Coordinator, CEE Bankwatch Network
ioana.ciuta@bankwatch.org
Tel.: +40 724 020 281 (email preferred)
Twitter: @unaltuser