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EU budget: green jobs to be found amidst disappointing deal

Brussels, July 3, 2013 – Following today’s approval by the European Parliament of Europe’s €960 billion budget for 2014-2020, Bankwatch and Friends of the Earth Europe are calling on individual member states to make the most of a disappointing deal by respecting green spending commitments – thereby boosting green jobs and truly sustainable investments.

Commenting after the vote, Markus Trilling, EU Funds coordinator for Bankwatch and Friends of the Earth Europe, said: “We’ve got agreement on the broad outline, it’s disappointing, but it’s time to draw a line under the discussions and get to work salvaging some green shoots from the battle-scarred budget. With quality at the heart of their spending plans, member states can still ensure environmental and economic benefits and help bring Europe out of crisis.”

A well-spent budget has the potential to create green jobs and bring Europe out of its economic and environmental crises, according to the organisations [1]. For example, a €1 billion investment could create 29,000 jobs if invested in the Natura 2000 nature protection scheme, or approximately 52,700 jobs in the renewables sector or 25,900 jobs in the energy savings sector.

Markus Trilling continued: “The millions of young unemployed across Europe may initially welcome the new emphasis on fighting unemployment, with a frontloaded €6 billion now being made available, but it’s unlikely to reach deep enough or wide enough. Committing to quality green spending across the entire budget, via the 20 percent climate mainstreaming agreed in February, would bring sustainable, long-term job creation in sectors such as renewable energy and energy savings.”

“In contrast, subsidies for carbon-intensive transport and energy infrastructure must be ruled-out from regional investment plans – they promote fossil fuel use and lock European economies into carbon dependency.”

More than a third (€362.7 billion) of the EU budget 2014-2020 is committed to agriculture as part of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The majority of this will support industrial farming, benefitting multinationals and large-scale farms, while devastating biodiversity and small farmers, according to Friends of the Earth Europe [2].

Stanka Becheva, food and agriculture campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe, said: “The majority of CAP subsidies will be used to prop up a failing system that benefits a few multinationals and industrial-scale farms. This will be a disaster for the environment, small farmers and developing countries. But, if at the national and regional levels the CAP supports the growing movement for quality, sustainable food, we could see benefits for local communities and the environment.”

For more information please contact

Markus Trilling, EU Funds campaigner at CEE Bankwatch/Friends of the
Earth Europe
Tel: +32 (0) 484 056 636
Email: markus.trilling at foeeurope.org

Sam Fleet, communications officer, Friends of the Earth Europe
Tel: +32 (0) 2 893 1012
Email: samuel.fleet at foeeurope.org

Greig Aitken, Bankwatch media support,
Tel: +420 549 212 517
Email: greig.aitken at gmail.com

Notes for the editors

1. Cohesion policy that works for the environment:
http://www.wellspent.eu/

Investing for the future: More jobs out of a greener EU Budget:
http://www.foeeurope.org/investing-future-Feb2012

2. CAP reform: failure for environment and small farmers:
http://www.foeeurope.org/cap-reform-failure-environment-developing-countries-small-farmers-260613

New EIB Energy Policy: A Missed Opportunity

Brussels — The EU’s global leadership on climate change is set to take another blow if the European Investment Bank, the EU house bank and one of the world’s largest public lenders, adopts a future energy lending policy as presented yesterday to the public. The draft policy includes weaker standards for lending to coal plants than currently proposed in both the US and Canada.

While the draft policy does tighten lending conditions for all types of fossil fuel projects including coal by introducing Emission Performance Standards (EPS) and asking for full compliance with recent EU Directives (1), the EPS level proposed by the EIB would not be as ambitious as the one currently in place in Canada or even that proposed today by President Barack Obama to apply for the US. (2)

Also worryingly “an EPS exception” is set out in the policy for cases in which “a plant contributes to the security of supply” within the EU or when “it contributes to poverty alleviation and economic development” outside of the EU.

Here the draft policy reflects the contradiction of EU policy objectives on energy security, sustainable development and climate change and raises fears that coal projects might sneak in for financing from the EIB despite the tightening of criteria.

At the same time this incoherence means that virtually all forms of energy could be eligible for EIB financing, from new forms of renewable energy generation to coal, with the bank explicitly opening the door for risky investments in nuclear energy and shale gas.

“Reading the draft energy policy proposed by the EIB, I was left to wonder whether the bank has grasped the full extent of the evidence provided by climate science,” comments Bankwatch’s EIB coordinator Anna Roggenbuck. “Not only does the bank plan to continue investing in fossil fuels including coal, it is also actively encouraging the development of unconventional fossil fuels.”

“The proposed draft would allow the EIB to finance new coal units Rybnik in Poland or the Stanari lignite plant in Bosnia and Herzegovina and potentially other similar projects around the Balkans,” adds Roggenbuck. “This is absolutely not the type of projects the bank of the European Union should be endorsing if it is to further the EU’s long term climate objectives.”

“We think that by wanting to invest in all these kinds of energy sources – from nuclear to coal and to renewables – the bank is stretching itself thin,” says Bankwatch energy campaigner Kuba Gogolewski.

“One good aspect of the new policy is that it lends its weight behind the EU’s Energy Performance for Buildings Directive, which means that it intends to direct more resources towards energy efficiency projects,” continued Gogolewski. “Yet with all these areas of energy lending to divide itself among, it is unclear how the bank will be able to focus on new renewables and energy efficiency, the only two sectors that can bring resilience to countries around the world. Just in 2012, we saw that the bank dropped its lending to renewables, a sign that the bank must make a serious effort not to drop the ball on clean energy.”

The board of directors of the bank will discuss the policy with a goal to approve it on 23 July. CEE Bankwatch Network and Counter Balance call on the European Commission, EU member states and the EIB itself to use this time to close all loopholes left by the bank when it comes to coal lending especially, as well as to heighten ambitions when it comes to Emission Performance Standards.

“The next month should also constitute a reflection period for all those involved in decisions over the EIB’s lending as to whether public financing of lignite, shale gas and oil pipelines via the EIB are what Europe, which wants to lead on climate change, should be doing,” says Counter Balance coordinator Berber Verpoest. “The draft on the table today is a shift away from the sustainable investments we need and a huge disappointment for anybody hoping the EU is willing to take the lead in tackling climate change.”

Next week, CEE Bankwatch Network and Counter Balance are organising an on line conference call with media to analyse in depth the future EIB energy policy and its implications for the current EBRD energy policy review as well as for the European energy sector in general. If you are interested in joining, please email claudia.ciobanu at bankwatch.org. Invitations will be sent Monday.

Notes for the editors:

(1) The EIB is tightening its lending to coal by:

a. Introducing an Emission Performance Standard at plant level for all fossil fuel plants financed by the bank, standing at 550 gCO2/kWh

b. Including in assessments of projects a carbon price calculation that would take into account other air pollutants (NOx, SO2)

c. Asking that all financed projects, not just the ones in EU, comply with the requirements of the EU’s Industrial Emissions Directive, Large Combustion Plant Directive, ETS directive and CCS Directive.

(2) In August 2012, Canada introduced an EPS level of 420gCO2/kWh. In a plan of the Obama administration published today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is set to introduce a performance standard of 440 CO2/kWh, at the same level as standards in place in the UK.

(3) Read more about energy review processes at the two European public banks (the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development): https://bankwatch.org/campaign/energy-lending

(4) Read a call from the EU Commissioner Connie Hedegaard for the EIB to diminish its focus on fossil fuel lending: http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/ending-fossil-fuel-subsidies-by-connie-hedegaard

(5) More on IFI’s involvement in the Balkans in a study published today by Bankwatch, SEE ChangeNet and WWF: https://bankwatch.org/news-media/for-journalists/press-releases/development-banks-energy-investments-jeopardise-ability-ba

(6) See a map of good and bad energy projects financed by the EIB: https://bankwatch.org/EIB-energy-future-past

For more information, contact:

Anna Roggenbuck
Bankwatch EIB coordinator
annar at bankwatch.org
+ 48 509 970 424

Berber Verpoest
Counter Balance media coordinator
press at counterbalance-eib.org
+ 32 484508416

Development banks energy investments jeopardise the ability of Balkan accession countries to meet EU energy and climate targets, says new report

Brussels, Belgium – Heavy investments in fossil fuels by international financial institutions (IFIs) in the Western Balkans are hindering these countries’ compliance with EU accession requirements, finds a new report – “Invest in Haste, Repent at Leisure” – from civil society organizations CEE Bankwatch Network, SEE Change Net and WWF, created as part of the SEE SEP (South East Europe Sustainable Energy Policy) programme.

As Croatia prepares for EU entry on 1 July and with the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank all currently reviewing their energy sector lending strategies, the report finds that between 2006 and 2012 Europe’s development banks lent 32 times more for fossil fuels than renewable energy sources not related to hydropower.

This trend means that the Western Balkan countries [1] are heading in the opposite direction of the EU goals on climate change for the years 2020, 2030 and 2050, an eventual requirement for these aspiring EU countries.

The groups are calling for a halt to international public investments in fossil fuels and the rapid ramping up of efforts on residential energy efficiency and energy savings.

The report also shows that:

  • Almost half of the EBRD’s energy lending – the largest public lender in the region – has supported fossil fuels, with only two percent of its portfolio allocated for non-hydropower renewable energy sources, and a further 23 percent supporting hydropower.
  • Fossil fuels account for 36 percent of all IFI energy financing in the region, or EUR 597.3 million, with hydropower receiving EUR 310.1 and renewable sources just EUR 18.5 million, or 1 percent; and
  • Energy efficiency, which has a high potential to address energy poverty in the region and prevent new environmentally-impacting infrastructure, makes up only 17 percent of the IFIs’ energy portfolio, or EUR 288.8 million.

Writing in the foreword of the report “Invest in Haste, Repent at Leisure”, EU Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard says “support for energy efficiency and renewable energy sources is lagging, while governments around the world spend hundreds of billions of dollars subsidizing an incipient catastrophe”.

Pippa Gallop, research co-ordinator at CEE Bankwatch Network and co-author of the report, said: “The countries in the region, backed by the IFIs, are heading in the opposite direction of EU 2020, 2030 and 2050 targets on sustainable energy production. This is totally unacceptable for institutions who have a very specific role in supporting new, environmentally- and socially-sound investments rather than simply investing in whatever governments or companies propose.”

“Estimates [2] show that it is up to 10,000 times more cost effective to save a unit of energy than to generate a new unit. We call upon the EU to urgently push the IFIs to make this their number one priority”, said Angela Klauschen, Policy Officer at WWF’s Mediterranean Programme, “and then to ensure that any new energy infrastructure developed is fully sustainable.”

Garret Tankosić-Kelly, Principal at SEE Change Net and co-author of the report, said: “Let us be absolutely clear about who is going to pay for the currently planned 30 billion euros of energy development; primarily the 20 million or more consumers in South East Europe through increased energy prices and the repayment of IFI loans. Then – when this damage needs to be undone as prospective Members States join the European Union – those additional costs will again be borne by the public in the region and EU tax payers.”

The reality of this concern is born out by MEP Ulrike Lunacek, who stated that she “regrets that the EBRD is planning to support new lignite capacity (Kosova e Re) in its draft country strategy, and calls on the Commission to take action to contest plans such as this that run counter to EU climate commitments”.[3]

Notes for the editors

Given the imperative to assist the countries of the region to orientate towards the EU’s 2020, 2030 and 2050 targets, this report recommends that the IFIs:

  • Stop funding new fossil fuel projects in prospective Member States, especially coal, and rapidly increase the share of energy savings, energy efficiency and sustainable renewables in their portfolios;
  • Make residential energy efficiency and energy savings the number one priority in the region;
  • Adopt a zero tolerance approach to indicators of corruption or breaches of environmental standards for all projects;
  • Support the diversification of renewables and de-emphasise support for damaging hydropower projects, especially those built as energy export vehicles;
  • Prepare funds and programmes to assist the countries of the region who wish to meet 20 percent energy efficiency targets, especially in instances which will help tackle energy poverty;
  • Prepare funds and programmes to assist the countries of the region to tackle the alarmingly high technical and commercial losses in the region’s energy systems; and
  • Greatly simplify project disclosure for funds and intermediaries so that it is clearer which money ends up where.

The full report is available at SEE Change Net’s website (www.seechangenetwork.org) at the following link: http://seechangenetwork.org/index.php/publications/invest-in-haste-repent-at-leisure.html.

1. Energy Community Regional Energy Strategy, http://www.energy-community.org/pls/portal/docs/1810178.PDF

2. Bernard Laponche, Bernard Jamet, Michel Colombier and Sophie Attali (Eds): Energy Efficiency for a Sustainable World, 1997

3. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-%2f%2fEP%2f%2fTEXT%2bTA%2b20130418%2bTOC%2bDOC%2bXML%2bV0%2f%2fEN

For more information contact:

Masha Durkalić, Communication Officer, SEE Change Net
masha at seechangenet.org,
+387 63 999 827

Chantal Menard, Communications Manager, WWF Mediterranean
cmenard at wwfmedpo.org
+39 346 235 7481

Pippa Gallop, Research Co-ordinator, CEE Bankwatch Network
pippa.gallop at bankwatch.org
+385 99 755 9787

Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard
Media Contact: Stephanie.RHOMBERG at ec.europa.eu
+32 229 87278

MEP Ulrike Lunacek, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance, member of the Delegation for relations with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo
Media Contact: Eva.ROSENBERG at ec.europa.eu
+32 474 23 47 86

SEE SEP partner organizations:

SEE Change Net (regional)
Analytica (Macedonia)
ATRC (Kosovo)
Cekor (Serbia)
CPI (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
CZZS (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
DOOR (Croatia)
EDEN (Albania)
Ekolevizja (Albania)
Eko-Svest (Macedonia)
Forum za slobodu odgoja (Croatia)
Fractal (Serbia)
Front 21/42 (Macedonia)
Green Home (Montenegro)
MANS (Montenegro)
CEE Bankwatch Network (regional)
WWF (regional)

Russian and European NGO investigations lead to the filing of a complaint against VINCI CONCESSIONS RUSSIE SA and against unknown persons before the Nanterre Public Prosecutor

Paris, 24 June 2013 – Sherpa, Russie-Libertés, CEE Bankwatch Network and MOBO Princip, as well as members of Russian civil society such as the environmental activist Evgenia Chirikova, today submitted to the Public Prosecutor of Nanterre, France, a complaint relating to the conditions in which the NORTH WEST CONCESSION COMPANY – NWCC – , which is wholly owned by the French company VINCI CONCESSIONS RUSSIE, was awarded a public contract in 2009 concerning the construction of the highway between Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

In recent years, investigations have been conducted by a number of European and international NGOs. This investigative work indicates that there may be serious reasons to believe that the VINCI CONCESSIONS RUSSIE Company – as well as other legal persons and individuals that are still to be identified – may have committed financial and criminal offences which could include bribery of foreign public officials and concealment of influence peddling.

In addition to the climate of corruption which seems to have been present from the early planning stages of the project, serious environmental damage has been reported, especially in the Khimki Forest near Moscow.

The undersigning NGOs expect the Public Prosecutor of Nanterre, to provide a quick judicial response that should be in line with the importance and the seriousness of the reported facts and with France’s commitments to fight corruption.

Regarding the last point, they recall the recommendations made to France in 2012 by the OECD working group.

The undersigning NGOs consider that the nature of the facts and their international and complex character would justify the immediate initiation of a judicial inquiry so that one or more examining judges can begin to investigate without delay.

Press Contacts:

Sophia Lakhdar, Director of Sherpa, 0033 (0)1 42 21 33 25, communication at asso-sherpa.org

William Bourdon, President of Sherpa, 0033 (0)1 42 60 32 60, w.bourdon at bvb-avocats.com

Pippa Gallop, Research Coordinator at Bankwatch, pippa.gallop at bankwatch.org

Alexis Prokopiev, President of Russie-Libertés, 0033 (0)6 13 49 53 84, aprokopiev at gmail.com

Eleventh hour for Europe’s bank to lead on climate change

Brussels — Ahead of next week’s expected release from the European Investment Bank of its final draft energy policy, CEE Bankwatch Network and Counter Balance are urging the EU’s house bank to ensure that its annual portfolio of EUR 70 billion is guided by a policy that enables Europe to meet its long-term commitments on climate.

The EIB spends roughly a fifth of its annual portfolio on energy projects, or about EUR 14 billion, but since the current 2007 policy was put in place, more than EUR 19 billion has gone to fossil fuels, compared with just EUR 5 billion for energy efficiency measures. Laudable investments in renewable energy projects, roughly equalling those of fossil fuels, are being undercut by continued EIB support for climate-damaging projects*.

With the European Commission’s recent proposal to set binding climate targets for 2030 in order to achieve the mandatory decarbonisation of Europe’s economy by 2050, this final iteration of the policy is the best opportunity for the EIB to outline a low carbon path for the EU’s economy by boosting support for energy efficiency, renewable energy and smart energy infrastructure projects.

Anna Roggenbuck from Bankwatch said, “Decarbonisation, through an end to funding of coal projects and other fossil fuels, is a matter of policy coherence with the EU’s long-term climate agenda and a necessary step in stopping harmful and distorting subsidies for fossil fuels.”

Berber Verpoest of Counter Balance said, “Other multilaterals have taken steps to quit coal, like the Nordic Investment Bank who in March this year cleansed its portfolio of the climate-killing stuff. Why can’t the EIB do the same and end entirely its support for coal in the new policy? This is the last chance for the bank to get it right.”

This final draft is the penultimate step in the review of the bank’s energy policy, bringing to a close a process that formally launched in October 2012. EU Member States – as the shareholding owners of the EIB – will have a final say in formulating the policy.

Notes for the editors:

1. Bankwatch will organise a policy briefing online for interested media about the new draft policy within the week of its publication. For more information or to participate please email claudia.ciobanu at bankwatch.org

2. Read more about the energy lending of Europe’s public banks here: https://bankwatch.org/campaign/energy-lending

3. See examples of helpful and harmful energy projects financed by the EIB: https://bankwatch.org/EIB-energy-future-past

4. Read more about the EIB energy policy revision process here: http://www.eib.org/about/partners/cso/consultations/item/public-consultation-on-eibs-energy-lending-policy.htm

5. Read ten reasons why the EIB should end its investments in coal here: https://bankwatch.org/sites/default/files/briefing-EnergyLending-22Apr2013.pdf

* Figures for the period 2007-2011

For more information, contact:

Anna Roggenbuck
EIB campaign co-ordinator, CEE Bankwatch Network
Email: annar at bankwatch.org

Berber Verpoest
Co-ordinator, Counter Balance
Email: press at counterbalance-eib.org
Mobile: +32 484 508 416

Kolubara mining waste causes landslide, wrecks homes in Serbia

Belgrade — A landslide caused by mining operations at Kolubara lignite mines in Serbia is advancing towards the village Junkovac in the Serbian Lazarevac municipality, threatening to engulf parts of it; two houses and a road have been destroyed already, and tens of other homes are at risk.

A hill near Junkovac started sliding down over the weekend because of pressure from mining overburden dumped in its vicinity.

Kolubara mines, the largest lignite complex in Serbia, are operated by state energy company EPS. According to locals and Serbian media, overburden from two fields, B and C (see attached map), has been dumped in the vicinity of Junkovac, seemingly without proper care for the potential negative consequences over the surrounding environment and localities.

Since the weekend, EPS employees have been trying to stop the landslide, but have so far only succeeded in slowing it down. A state inspector has been on the ground as well and state authorities declared they would look into company practices. Yet, according to a CEKOR representative on the ground, people in Jankovac are very scared and do not yet see clear alternatives for moving out of the area.

“Most likely, this destruction is happening because of negligent practices by EPS, which dumped overburden in a careless way without securing against the risk of spills,” says Zvezdan Kalmar from CEKOR. “And now people’s lives and livelihoods are at risk. We have called on the Serbian Ombudsman to come and see the situation on the ground. The people in Junkovac need urgent help.”

Some of the mining operations in Field C of Kolubara have been financially supported by both the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and by German state development bank KfW. Bankwatch and CEKOR are now calling on the two institutions take responsibility for the consequences of mining operations they have supported in the past.

“The EBRD and KfW must insist that EPS takes action fast to offer alternatives and compensation for the people affected by these negligent mining practices,” says Kalmar. “The EBRD, which has supported EPS with several loans in the past, must ask that proper impact assessments are conducted by the company for all operations and that serious mitigation plans are in place for any potential negative effects such as those we are seeing today. If the EBRD really wants to exercise positive pressure on EPS’ practices, the emergency this week is where to begin.”

Notes for the editors:

Photos from Kolubara, available for print: https://bankwatch.org/kolubara/slideshow

Read more about the Kolubara mines: https://bankwatch.org/our-work/projects/kolubara-lignite-mine-serbia

See a short clip about the impact of mining on local communities:

https://bankwatch.org/our-work/projects/kolubara-lignite-mine-serbia

For more information, contact:

Zvezdan Kalmar

CEKOR Serbia

vodana@gmail.com

00381605523191

Nikola Perusic

CEKOR Serbia

perusic@tippnet.rs