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Campaigners hail major victory as Polish government announces the saving of Rospuda Valley

Today’s announcement by the Polish government that the Rospuda Valley, a Natura 2000 protected area, is not to be devastated by a major bypass road has been hailed by campaigners from CEE Bankwatch Network, OTOP – Birdlife Poland, Greenpeace Poland and WWF Poland as a major victory for the environment, for Polish and European law and for the general public interest.

Robert Cyglicki, Polish national coordinator for Bankwatch, said: “We are delighted that the Polish government has finally seen sense and that this case has come to a satisfactory conclusion. All the same, it is deeply regretable that we have lost two years and that people living in the town of Augustow will need to wait for the required bypass a bit longer, all because of the blind obstinacy of the former government and the stance it took on the Rospuda Valley, one of Poland’s and Europe’s natural treasures.”

Polish prime minister Donald Tusk today announced a new route for the expressway that will relieve the north-east Polish town of Augustow of heavy transit traffic. The bypass, part of the Via Baltica road transport corridor that is due to stretch down the right hand side of Poland, will now be constructed near the nearby village of Raczki.

However, the groups cautioned about alarming construction and planning activities currently ongoing elsewhere along the Via Baltica corridor.

Marta Majka Wiśniewska, of WWF Poland, said: “Today’s good news about Rospuda should serve as a wake-up call to governments and road-builders around central and eastern Europe that the region’s natural beauty can not be sacrificed to bulldozers. This is not the end of Polish road shenanigans and our government must learn the Rospuda lesson.”

Malgorzata Gorska, Important Bird Area Casework Officer of OTOP, said: “South of Rospuda, there are already advanced plans on building express roads through three more major Natura 2000 sites – the Knyszyn Primeval Forest, the Biebrza Marshes and the Augustow Primeval Forest. More European money will be sought for these projects even though the developers are ignoring strategic assessments which suggest viable, less damaging alternatives for the Via Baltica road corridor. We stand ready to take the Rospuda momentum forward.”

Maciej Muskat, of Greenpeace Poland, said: “We are happy to see that the Polish government is going to win this case for nature and people. At the same time we are deeply concerned about the lack of action regarding the re-routing of the whole Via Baltica expressway, a part of which is the Augustow bypass, in accordance with expert analysis and recommendations.”

For more information

Robert Cyglicki, Polish Green Network/Bankwatch, Szczecin, robertc at bankwatch.org, +48 501101769.

Marta Majka Winiewska, WWF Poland, Warsaw, mwisniewska at wwf.pl, +48 602888143.

Malgorzata Gorska, the Polish Society for the Protection of the Birds (OTOP/BirdLife Poland), Biaystok, malgorzata.gorska at otop.org.pl, +48 605072963.

Maciej Muskat, Greenpeace Poland, maciej.muskat at greenpeace.pl, +48509058651

First tranche of EIB car “crisis” loans requires scrutiny, warn Bankwatch and Greenpeace


The European Investment Bank (EIB) has today extended EUR 3 billion in soft loans to eight European carmakers for the development and production of cleaner vehicles.[1] CEE Bankwatch Network and Greenpeace call on the EIB to ensure that money goes to initiatives with a true impact on cutting carbon emissions from cars and not just to small-scale greenwash projects.

EU carmakers are already bound by EU legislation to reduce the climate impact of cars. [2] The EIB has underlined that its role is not to bail out the struggling car industry. [3]

“We need to make sure that these loans go to projects which reduce carbon emissions and not to window dressing for the car industry. Carmakers should be held accountable and deliver on their promises to green their fleets. If they do not, EIB loans should be recalled,” said Franziska Achterberg, Greenpeace EU transport policy campaigner.

Pippa Gallop, Research coordinator at Bankwatch, said: “It is hard to see which car companies are not in need of restructuring, with over-capacity estimated at about 20 percent. With the rapid approval of new car loans the EIB needs to make sure that the appraisal of the viability of the projects is not compromised.”

Contacts

Pippa Gallop
Research Co-ordinator, CEE Bankwatch Network
Email: pippa.gallop AT bankwatch.org

Franziska Achterberg
Greenpeace EU transport campaigner
Email: franziska.achterberg AT greenpeace.org

Notes for editors

1. The car and lorry companies include Daimler, BMW, Fiat, Renault, Peugeot-Citroen, Volvo Cars, Volvo Trucks and Scania. Germanys third independent producer, Volkswagen, already received a EUR 400m loan on 17 February for the development and market launch of greener and more fuel efficient drive train components for passenger cars and utility vehicles. The loans come under the EIBs Clean Transport Facility and are restricted to activities aimed at cutting emissions. They are limited to EUR 400 million per company per year.

2. During last year’s negotiations on the EUs first ever CO2 emission standard for cars, all eight car companies insisted that they could not achieve the required emission cuts by 2012. Bowing to pressure from the car industry, the EU delayed full implementation of the standard to 2015.

3. In an interview in the Financial Times on February 17, 2009, EIB President Philippe Maystadt commented that: “The EIB is not there to substitute for structural reforms that might be needed by some companies. I want to make clear our role is to support viable projects.”

EU billions earmarked for environmental devastation in central and eastern Europe

“RegioScars” awards for the most unsustainable spending of EU funds in Central and Eastern Europe were awarded today by CEE Bankwatch Network and Friends of the Earth Europe. The prizes went to two projects in the Czech Republic and Poland currently in line for support from EU regional aid, and to Latvia’s government for a decision to rule out wind energy projects from EU funds support because of the economic crisis.

The “RegioScars” from the environmental organisations have gone to plans to build 12 large waste incinerators in Poland – set to consume over EUR 1.2 billion of EU money while Polish waste recycling efforts continue to suffer from lack of funding – and the R52 expressway in the Czech Republic that seeks to connect the Czech city of Brno with Vienna via a route that would adversely affect a UNESCO-designated area and three Natura 2000 sites in the south-east of the Czech Republic. [1]

As the European Commission prepares to hand out “RegioStars awards” on Monday evening for “the most inspiring and innovative projects funded by the EU’s Cohesion Policy” including climate change mitigation and adaptation projects, a last minute “RegioScar” award has been awarded to the Latvian government’s decision last week to cut EU funds allocations – already a meagre EUR 10 million – for wind energy development in a country where no new wind turbine has been erected since 2000.

Magda Stoczkiewicz, Director of Friends of the Earth Europe, said: “While the European Commission is calling for the billions of euros that are involved in the EU funds to be used smartly by the member states in this time of economic and environmental crisis, in the eastern member states we continue to see a cavalier approach to proposing projects that are at best environmentally and economically dubious and at worst totally obsolete.

“Twelve major incinerator projects, up from a proposed nine last year, are now in the frame for consuming the bulk of Poland’s EU funds for waste initiatives. Such projects are notoriously unpopular, create far fewer jobs than cheaper recycling measures and do nothing to tackle the underlying problem of excessive consumption. In the Polish city of Wroclaw, the incinerator approach has been ignored in favour of a waste sorting facility that is able to deal much less harmfully with the area’s waste, at a cost of EUR 4 million. Throwing EU billions almost exclusively at waste incineration stinks of irresponsibility in the current climate.”

Anelia Stefanova, EU affairs coordinator for CEE Bankwatch Network, said: “Of the Commission’s small number of nominees for climate-friendly RegioStars awards, not one project comes from the new member states where so much remains to be done in terms of energy efficiency and renewable energy.

“Latvia’s recently announced decision to cut EU-funded support for wind energy should serve as a wake-up call to the Commission as it seeks to push greater sums of money towards much-needed sustainable energy projects across Europe. Where the need is greatest, in central and eastern Europe, the most vigilance is still required if available money is not to be squandered on nonsensical business as usual projects.”

For more information, contact:

Greig Aitken
Media coordinator
CEE Bankwatch Network
Tel: 00420 605 216 705
Email: press AT bankwatch.org

Notes for editors:

1. Background information about the Polish incinerator projects and the R52 expressway in the Czech Republic is available at the online map.

Bankwatch and Friends of the Earth Europe have worked together over the last ten years to promote the sustainable use of EU funds in central and eastern Europe. More information available at our map of EU projects.

Please note, by mistake the original release of this press release described that the R52 expressway would “cross” a UNESCO site and three Natura 2000 sites. This has been corrected and we apologise for the error.

Anti-cyanide protestors in Sofia boosted by European parliament support

Residents of the Bulgarian village of Poibrene have today taken their long-standing concerns about the potential introduction of controversial cyanide technology at the Chelopech gold mine – led by Canadian firm Dundee Precious Metals – directly to the Bulgarian ministries of environment and health and to the Sofia office of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the publicly-owned development bank that is a potential funder of a USD 150 million project that could see cyanide leaching introduced at the gold mine without inclusive public consultation.

In spite of close to 15,000 signatures submitted in September 2008 to the Petition Committee at the Bulgarian parliament against the introduction of cyanide at the Chelopech mine, to date no response from the responsible ministries has been received. A separate court case brought by – among others – the mayor of Poibrene against the current Chelopech environmental impact assessment has also raised the issue of insufficient public consultations.

Vasil Kudrinov, a resident of Plovdiv and official presenter of petitions to the European Parliament, said: “So far, only mining-dependent neighboring villages have been involved in the public consultations concerning Dundee Precious Metals’ plans to introduce cyanide technologies at Chelopech. Yet this is a potential move that is relevant to two million people living downstream of the mine along the River Maritsa, Bulgaria’s biggest river.

“In September we were assured of a response to our petition within one month. Yet several months on, willingness from the Bulgarian government to address the situation and protect the constitutional rights of communities to a clean and healthy environment is totally lacking.”

Georgi Pandurov, Mayor of Poibrene, said: “Our village, water and soils, have suffered from arsenic and heavy metals pollution caused by other upstream mining activities for many years. Now we are at risk from cyanide but nobody has come to offer explanations or to ask for our opinion.”

As the community representatives, joined by Bankwatch member group Centre for Environmental Information and Education, presented officials with their renewed appeals, a critical report that draws on the findings of a visit by members of the European Parliament to the Chelopech site in October 2008 was today approved at the European Parliament’s Committee on Petitions. [1]Citing the “panic” felt by residents who have yet to be consulted about the introduction of cyanide, the approved report makes strong requests to the Bulgarian government and to the European Commission, and urges the Bulgarian government to ensure strict compliance with EU law on environmental matters.

Daniel Popov, of Centre for Environmental Information and Education and Bankwatch national coordinator, said: “The EBRD appears intent on granting Dundee Precious Metals a major loan for Phase 2 of the Chelopech project which is all about the introduction of cyanide. The bank has loaned a total of USD 25 million for Phase 1 for environmental improvement of the mine, a process which has taken place we are told, but which has seen no public release of information on how the implementation has gone.

“Members of the European Parliament have recognised some of the outrageous health and environmental impacts on communities stemming from mining developments in Bulgaria. The EBRD must ensure that a comprehensive public consultation process takes place before its board makes any decision on financing for Phase 2 of Chelopech.”

For more information, contact:

Daniel Popov
Centre for Environmental Information and Education/CEE Bankwatch Network
Tel: +359 886 818 794
Email: dpopov AT bankwatch.org

Notes for editors:

1. The report of the fact-finding visit to Bulgaria by members of the European Parliament which has been accepted by the European Parliament’s Committee on Petitions is available at the internet address here.

More information about the Chelopech mining project is available here.

Stench rising over Sofia waste crisis, warns local group

The environmental assessment (EIA) of a waste management project proposed by Sofia municipality to deal with the Bulgarian capital’s chronic waste problems has been criticised by Bankwatch’s Bulgarian member group Za Zemiata for failing to consider an alternative waste management scenario officially submitted by NGOs in collaboration with experts and researchers from Europe and the U.S. Such a procedural breach of Bulgarian EIA legislation should, believes Za Zemiata, rule out vital EU funding that the authorities in Sofia are seeking for the EUR 175 million project. [1]

Ivaylo Hlebarov, of Za Zemiata and Bankwatch national coordinator who has participated this week at the EIA public hearings in Sofia, said:

“Our alternative waste management scenario that has been overlooked puts much more emphasis on the prevention and recycling of waste, in line with EU recycling priorities, than that which Sofia municipality is proposing. The municipality’s scheme is heavily dependent on landfilling and burning refuse derived fuels in cement kilns outside Sofia, with clear threats to human health from pollution. Another indication of how inadequate this EIA process has been is that the experts involved have refused to even assess the hazards of burning this fuel. The attitude appears to be, if it’s outside Sofia then it’s not our problem. [2]

“The EIA report for the municipality’s unsustainable approach to Sofia’s waste is too toxic even for landfill, but it is looking more and more like a done deal. Constructive comments from NGOs on the plans have also been totally discounted. The EU’s new Waste Framework Directive has set minimum 50 percent recycling rates for household waste by 2020, yet the Sofia scheme is unambitious, there is no way it can meet such a target and the Sofia authorities still believe they are due EU financial support!

“Sofia’s waste crisis has rivaled that of Naples and EU funding is essential in such extreme circumstances. However, to support EU waste goals, EU money should support integrated waste management facilities where separate collection and high recycling rates are essential elements. Our proposals have these essential elements yet they have been chucked on the scrap heap by the authorities.”

For more information

Za Zemiata (EU funds and waste coordinator)/CEE Bankwatch Network
Mobile: +359 898 252 303
E-mail: hlebarov AT bankwatch.org

Notes for editors

[1] The European Commission will have the final say on whether or not to provide financial support to the Sofia waste management project. The Commission is responsible for the approval of any environmental project with total costs above EUR 25 million. Without a properly conducted EIA process for individual projects within the member states, the Commission cannot approve the disbursal of funds.

In October 2007, the European Commission initiated an infringement procedure against Bulgaria because of the illegal storage of mixed municipal waste in plastic bales in the open (currently around 600 000 tonnes) and the city’s lack of adequate facilities for waste disposal.

[2] Sofia municipality’s project proposal includes: two composting facilities (40 000 tonnes/year), a mechanical-biological treatment facility (410 000 tonnes/year), a landfill and a small waste water treatment plant – the project will treat 71 percent of Sofia waste in 2020 (and more than 87 percent of total waste produced in 2011).

The recycling contribution from this plant will be 6.98 percent of total waste produced in 2020 (630 000 tonnes/y), thus barely helping to achieve the any way low figure of 33 percent recycled waste in 2020 as optimistically foreseen by the municipality.

The NGO scenarios for waste managament in Sofia, which have also been submitted to the European Commission, involve binding targets for recycling of 50 percent as a minimum and rising to 75 percent, the omission of burning municipal waste and an extensive focus on prevention, reuse and recycling.

The proposed Sofia waste management project is one of 50 damaging projects planned or already underway in central and eastern Europe at a potential total cost to EU taxpayers of EUR 10 billion. More information is available at this online map from the Bankwatch website.

Local resistance to nightmare Albanian energy development scenario remains defiant, protestors demand a referendum

3000 citizens from the city of Vlora in Albania held a large protest rally this weekend at the coastal site that has been designated as the construction site for an oil and gas terminal and a thermo power plant. The protestors called on national institutions to respect their right to a local referendum on the constructions. They also urged the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) not to provide finance for projects that do not respect local public rights to participate in decision making and that will have strong negative impacts in the very sensitive area of Vlora Bay. [1]

The Sunday rally followed ten days of protest at the end of the year which saw the arrests of 20 people by 200 local policemen. Those arrested reported being beaten by rubber truncheons at the local police station. The police forces prevented the local media from reporting on the event.

However, the Civic Alliance for the Protection of Vlora Bay together with students from Vlora Students Movement (Levizja Studentore Vlonjate – LSV) continue to protest with the slogan: “Resistance till our right for a local referendum is taken into consideration”. Although, the protests have been attended by some members of the Vlora municipality, the City Council has not officially commented on the events.

Mr. Rezart Aliaj, the chair of the Alliance, said during his opening address to the protestors: “We live in a democratic country, and as such we have the right to raise our voices.”

The well known Albanian publicist Ardian Klosi supported the demonstration by underlining that the movement for the protection of the natural sites, history and archaeology, cultural values and local economies of Vlora is the first authentic citizens’ movement in Albania. He regarded the denial of a referendum as an act against the democratic right of Vlora citizens to decide on a matter of public concern.

At the terminal construction site, Besnik Lula – the Alliance member arrested and injured during the protests in the previous days – invited citizens to plant new trees where old pine trees have been cleared by the constructors.

Mr Lula commented: “We will plant new pine trees today within the territories of the construction sites in order to convey the message that this is not the right site to build on.”

For more information

Rezart Alliaj
Civic Alliance for the Protection of Vlora Bay
Mob: +355 (0) 682072861
Email: alliajshpk AT hotmail.com.vcf

Lavdosh Ferruni
Civic Alliance for the Protection of Vlora Bay
Tel: +355 4 250575
Mob: +355 (0) 69 209 9047
Email: lferruni AT icc-al.org

Notes for the editors

[1] The 97 megawatt oil and gas fuelled thermo power plant backed by the World Bank, EIB and EBRD and the La Petrolífera Italo Rumena’s storage of oil and its by-products currently seeking financing from the EBRD have been the subjects of several complaints and rulings for inadequate public information and participation as well as for underestimated social, economical, cultural and environmental risks that are attached to the projects such as the UN Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee.