Bankwatch

Home > Archives for Press release

Press release

New EU resource flagship must steer energy savings and resource potential for central and eastern Europe


Brussels, Belgium — Reacting to yesterday’s communication by the European Commission of its ‘resource-efficient Europe – flagship initiative under the Europe 2020 strategy’ [1], CEE Bankwatch Network is welcoming the agenda set by Brussels to ensure the sustainable use of raw materials, their extraction and processing but warns that this rhetoric must translate into action if the EU and particularly new Member States are to meet ambitious energy and climate change objectives.

In a detailed submission sent to the Commission before the initiative’s publication [2], Bankwatch had urged that the initiative do more to mobilise domestic financial resources like those under the Structural and Cohesion Policy to help new Member States in central and eastern Europe (CEE) invest more sustainably in areas like resource and energy efficiency.

Marijan Galovic, Bankwatch resource campaigner said, “This new initiative is commendable for including objectives ‘to make the EU a ‘circular economy’ based on a recycling society with the aim of reducing waste generation and using waste as a resource.’

“At the same time, CEE countries need to link financial support from the EU to the principles outlined in the initiative to overcome years of inaction in areas like waste management, where EU funds were used primarily for burying and incinerating waste. Such a seismic shift in these countries, which currently lag behind old Member States in terms of recycling commitments, would pay a double dividend by reducing waste management costs and creating additional jobs.”

Bankwatch is also urging the Commission to rethink its strategic priorities in the area of energy efficiency, as research has shown that Structural and Cohesion Policy funds are not being fully employed in CEE where the potential is great to decrease energy consumption [3].

Ondrej Pasek, Bankwatch energy campaigner in the Czech Republic, said of the initiative, “We know that in the Czech Republic for instance, energy savings in the building sector alone could reach nearly 60 percent if just efficiency investments are made.

“So it is alarming that the Commission has recommended both carbon capture and storage and nuclear energy generation as its priority areas. CCS does not reduce energy consumption in the long-term and requires a continued reliance on dirty energy production like coal mining. Importing and processing uranium for nuclear energy from non-EU countries will also increase the energy dependence and vulnerability of the EU.”

For more information

Marijan Galovic
Resource campaigner, CEE Bankwatch Network
Mobile +385 988 499 82

Ondrej Pasek
Energy campaigner, CEE Bankwatch Network
Mobile +420 608 381 602

Notes for editors

1. Full details available from the Commission’s website at http://ec.europa.eu/resource-efficient-europe/

2. See this letter to Environment Commissioner Potocnik at the Bankwatch website: https://bankwatch.org/documents/letter_EC_ResourceEfficiencyInitiative_19Jan2011.pdf

3. See the Bankwatch report ‘Potential unfulfilled: EU funding and Cohesion policy can do more for sustainable climate and energy development in central and eastern Europe’ https://bankwatch.org/documents/Potential_unfulfilled.pdf

EBRD undermines Slovenian climate targets and governmental review with 200 million euros for dirty coal project

Ljubljana, Slovenia — Campaign groups today lambasted the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) signature of a 200 million euros loan for the Sostanj thermal power plant in Slovenia [1], calling it a blatant affront to Slovenia’s long-term climate targets. The signing also fails to await the outcome of a governmental review of the controversial project, expected in mid-February.

The criticisms by CEE Bankwatch Network and Slovenian NGO FOCUS of yesterday’s decision focus on claims by the EBRD and other institutional lenders like the European Investment Bank that the project will help bring Slovenia in line with binding emissions reduction targets of the European Union. While frequently citing that the new block is planned to reduce emissions per kilowatt-hour for the power plant as a whole, the fact that the new block would lock Slovenia in to heavy carbon use beyond 2050 is overlooked.

As the director of the Slovenian Government Office for Climate Change Jernej Stritih has admitted, projected carbon dioxide emissions from operation of Unit 6 at Sostanj would swallow Slovenia’s entire eligible greenhouse gas emissions within planned reduction targets for 2050 [2]

“The EBRD and the Sostanj management are clearly in a hurry to present a fait accompli with this unpopular project” said Piotr Trzaskowski, energy and climate coordinator for Bankwatch. “The Slovene Minister of the Economy has commissioned a full review of the investment, to disclose all the relevant information and make a final decision on the project, with a report due in mid-February. The project was supposed to be on hold until then, so why has the loan agreement now been signed?”

The loan forms part of a larger 1.2 billion euros project to replace five existing low efficiency units with a new 600 megawatt (MW) sixth unit, powered by one of the least efficient and most polluting energy sources, lignite.

For more information

Piotr Trzaskowski, Energy and climate coordinator, CEE Bankwatch Network
Tel: +48 509162988
piotr.trzaskowski AT bankwatch.org

Lidija Zivcic, Senior expert, FOCUS association for sustainable development
Tel: +386 15154080
lidija AT focus.si

Notes for editors

1. The Slovenian state-owned Termoelektrarna Sostanj thermal power plant is comprised of four existing lignite-powered generating units and two gas turbines, with total 809 MW installed capacity, accounting for one third of total electricity produced in the country.

2. In line with an EU-wide scenario of an 80 percent reduction of greenhouse gases by 2050 needed to keep global temperature increases below 2 degrees Celsius.

Polish environmental agency rules in favour of biodiversity with New Year’s resolution to cancel airports flawed permitting

Warsaw, Poland — Campaign groups are applauding last week’s decision by the national General Directorate for Environmental Protection to revoke consent for the planned Tykocin regional airport in northeast Poland, a 125 million euros project slated to receive more than 70 percent of its financing from the EU’s Structural Funds.

The ruling to withdraw environmental consent shelves the project indefinitely and asserts a formal appeal lodged by a coalition of Polish NGOs, including Bankwatch member Polish Green Network and regional offices of WWF and Birdlife.

Chief among the complainants concerns are numerous deficiencies in the project’s environmental impact assessment (EIA), including failures to account for at least four Important Bird Areas and Special Protection Areas (IBAs/SPAs) and the lack of a cumulative assessment of further planned airport development next to the Tykocin site.

Przemek Kalinka, Bankwatch EU funds campaigner in Poland, commented on the ruling, “It’s a commendable decision for the new year, as this poor quality EIA not only would have permitted the loss of valuable natural areas but also jeopardised passenger safety due in part to large bird populations in the Narew and Biebrza River Valleys that border the planned airport site.”

The General Directorate’s decision also states that the EIA fell short of necessary provisions under Article 6.3 of the EU’s Habitats Directive, a violation which would preclude access to Structural Funds.

“We’re hopeful that the renewed EIA process will be carried forward with renewed political will to explore alternative and sustainable transportation solutions for the area that ensures both the availability of important public funds for regional development and moreover the safety of nature and people.”

For more information, contact:

Przemek Kalinka,
EU Funds coordinator, Poland
Email: przemek AT bankwatch.org

Baseball bat attack hospitalises Khimki Forest activist, latest violence connected with controversial Moscow-St Petersburg motorway plans

Environmental and human rights activist Konstantin Fetisov of Khimki near Moscow was today assaulted near his house by unknown assailants wielding a baseball bat and is now in a serious condition in hospital.

The attack is thought to be connected with Fetisov’s activities in the Movement to Defend Khimki Forest, in which local people have campaigned to stop the EUR 1.5 billion first section of the planned Moscow-St. Petersburg motorway – potentially to be financed by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) – from passing through and devastating the Khimki Forest near Moscow.[1]

Konstantin Fetisov was among those directly defending Khimki Forest from motorway construction preparations during the summer. Tent camps and demonstrations took place on the site, eventually resulting in President Dmitry Medvedev calling a halt in late August to tree felling pending further public hearings into the case. However the issue is far from resolved, with proponents of the original routing through the forest sticking rigidly to their position.

According to activists from the Movement to Defend Khimki Forest, local police have so far today not shown any interest in investigating the attack on Fetisov. The police are said to have failed to take as evidence the broken baseball bat that was abandoned by the attackers.

This is the latest in several attacks on Khimki Forest activists, and is the most brutal since local journalist Mikhail Beketov was beaten unconscious and had to have a leg amputated two years ago. Police halted the investigation of Beketov’s case a few months ago due to its ‘complexity’ and ‘lack of evidence’.

Mikhail Mateev, of the Movement to Defend Khimki Forest, commented: “This outrageous attack seems to be further proof of the lengths to which the proponents of the Khimki Forest routing of the motorway are prepared to go. While we’re heartened by recent confirmations from the European Commission that the European public banks will not back the current variant of the motorway routing, attacks like this vividly highlight the foul play going on and the need for a completely independent assessment of the possible motorway routings.”[2]

CEE Bankwatch Network is working with the Movement to Defend Khimki Forest to ensure that the EBRD and the EIB, Europe’s two public development banks, do not finance the Moscow-St. Petersburg motorway unless a routing is found that is acceptable for local people and the environment.

For more information

Yaroslav Nikitenko,
Movement to Defend Khimki Forest (English and Russian)
Mobile +7 916 743 37 59.

Mikhail Matveev,
Movement to Defend Khimki Forest (English and Russian)
Mobile + 7 965 392 28 14

Pippa Gallop, CEE Bankwatch Network (English)
Telephone + 385 1 3455 679
Email: pippa.gallop AT bankwatch.org

Notes for editors:

1. For more information about the Moscow-St. Petersburg motorway project, see: http://bit.ly/d0Qu2e

2. It has recently been confirmed during a meeting between Bankwatch, the Movement to Defend Khimki Forest and the European Commission that the project’s appraisal at the banks is currently frozen. However the Commission did not categorically rule out the banks’ participation if improvements in the project design are forthcoming.

Further details available at: http://bit.ly/b3U6kR

Bankwatch reaction on Commission’s new budget proposal No more excuses for clean energy budget holes


Reacting to today’s European Commission Communication on the forthcoming EU budget review for the 2014-2020 period, the public funds watchdog group CEE Bankwatch Network called for concerted Commission and member state commitment to boost EU-funded clean energy programmes in central and eastern Europe. [1]

For the current 2007-2013 EU budget period, Bankwatch research has found the ten new member states to be spending a mere 2.4 per cent (EUR 4.2 billion) of their total EU Funds on energy efficiency and renewables initiatives. [2]

Markus Trilling, EU funds coordinator for Bankwatch and Friends of the Earth Europe, said: “Today’s announcement from the European Commission on the future EU budget sets out intentions for a more flexible budget to address ‘unforeseen events’. Yet the huge climate change challenge has been staring Europe in the face since well before the current budget billions were allocated across the member states, and so far we have seen an astonishing lack of ambition in funding for real clean energy outcomes via energy efficiency and renewables projects.

“It’s now up to the Commission and the new member states to indeed learn the lessons of the past and of now. Amidst the budget skirmishes to come, there must be underlying commitments to seriously ramp up clean energy funding that can catalyse low-carbon economies and deliver good news for jobs and the environment. While energy efficiency and renewables don’t feature heavily in today’s communication, it is certainly encouraging that the Commission is talking of future budgetary resources being used to mainstream green technologies and services across all EU policies.”

For more information

Markus Trilling
EU Funds coordinator
CEE Bankwatch Network/Friends of the Earth Europe
Mobile +32 2 893 1031
Email: markus.trilling AT foeeurope.org

Notes for editors:

1. European Commission’s Communication on the EU Budget Review:
http://ec.europa.eu/budget/reform/index_en.htm

2. See the Bankwatch study Potential unfulfilled – EU funding and Cohesion policy can do more for sustainable climate and energy development in central and eastern Europe at: http://bit.ly/8YYAiU (pdf)

No public money for Nabucco – mega gas project a drain on clean energy, human rights and the environment, says Bankwatch


Budapest, Hungary — Reacting to today’s announcement by the Nabucco Consortium that international public banks are now officially commencing their appraisal of the EUR 7.9 billion (estimated) Nabucco gas pipeline project, watchdog group CEE Bankwatch Network called on the international financiers to reject what would be record European public finance for the project and instead to focus on the financing of clean energy in central and eastern Europe, particularly climate-friendly, job-boosting energy efficiency. [1]

As announced today, the Nabucco Consortium is seeking EUR 800 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private lending arm, EUR 2 billion from the European Investment Bank, and EUR 1.2 billion from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). In the case of the two European institutions, these would be unprecedented sums for one single fossil fuel project.

Piotr Trzaskowski, Bankwatch’s Energy & Climate Coordinator, said: “Now that the gloves are off, and a mandate letter has been signed by the banks to start their official appraisal process, we would expect the terms of this mandate to be made fully available to the public, as it’s clear that there is a wide range of hurdles to be cleared if the banks are to be able to satisfy their lending requirements and provide finance to Nabucco.

“Chief among these, in our view, are the controversial supply issues. There is a high probability that so-called European energy security via Nabucco will be reliant upon major gas supplies from Turkmenistan, an oppressive regime state that ranks alongside North Korea in widely-recognised human rights rankings.

“When it comes to the overall economic viability of the Nabucco project, deep scepticism has been levelled at the project from many quarters. Although they are supposed to be development institutions, as they insist repeatedly the bottom line for these public banks is ‘project bankability’. With billions of public money on the line here, the public has a right to know the economics of this project, or is the banks’ role simply to provide political cover at any price for an unconvincing project? We have seen corners being cut by both the EBRD and the IFC on the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline in the past.” [2]

As would be expected from a 3,300 kilometre pipeline set to stretch from Turkey to Austria via Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, sensitive environmental issues will have to be negotiated. In Hungary alone, the route of the Nabucco pipeline is set to cross European Union-protected Natura 2000 sites at 12 points, as well as crossing a national park.

Bankwatch is calling for the international public banks to desist from financing this fossil fuel project and instead to ramp up their financing of energy efficiency projects in central and eastern Europe, a region still blighted with shocking levels of energy wastage.

A study from the Central European University in June this year details the benefits for Hungary of a much bigger emphasis on energy efficiency over supply side measures via a strong retrofit programme in buildings. In January, for instance the peak month for imports, and the month of highest risk for energy security the energy savings to be achieved by 2030 would be equivalent to 59 percent of Hungary’s gas imports reducing dependency on Russian gas. Up to 131,000 net jobs would be created by 2020, including losses in the energy supply sector. [3]

Piotr Trzaskowski concluded: “There are a million and one reasons for the EIB, the EBRD and the IFC not to back Nabucco, namely the urgent energy saving measures in the region’s homes and businesses that can reduce CO2 emissions massively and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

“The EIB is supposed to be the EU’s financial powerhouse and it should follow EU climate commitments. Yet in 2009, in the 12 new EU member states of central and eastern Europe the EIB loaned a miserly EUR 190 million to energy efficiency, of which EUR 120 million went to construct new power plants fueled with gas or coal. In this context, a EUR 2 billion loan from the EIB for Nabucco is a highly unusual and downright risky way of approaching the climate maths.”

For more information

Piotr Trzaskowski
Energy & climate coordinator
CEE Bankwatch Network
Tel: +48 509162988
Email: piotrt AT bankwatch.org

Notes for editors

[1] See today’s press release from the Nabucco consortium.

[2] See comprehensive background information about the Nabucco project, including the human rights issues, at the Bankwatch website.

[3] See Employment Impacts of a Large-Scale Deep Building Energy Retrofit Programme in Hungary, Central European University, June 2010