Bankwatch

Home > News > Press releases > Press release search results

Press release search results


Unlocking Serbia’s district heating potential: The public energy services company model in focus

11 April, 2025

The Western Balkans is facing a pressing energy crisis, largely due to outdated district heating systems that waste vast amounts of energy. In Serbia alone, district heating networks serve over 700,0000 households, yet inefficiencies have led to energy losses of up to 12 per cent, resulting in higher costs and increased greenhouse gas emissions. Energy consumption per square metre is nearly triple that of western Europe, mainly due to poor insulation and ageing infrastructure. Rising energy prices and reliance on often imported fossil fuels make energy efficiency an economic necessity.

Read more

Jiříkov’s path to a clean energy future

20 March, 2025

The profound transformation of Europe’s energy sector in response to climate change and the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions is having a particularly significant impact on regions that have long relied on fossil fuels, especially coal mining.

Read more

Central Asia: environmental groups and scientists call on international financial institutions to preserve key freshwater bodies and stop supporting destructive hydropower projects

14 March, 2025

The future of Central Asia’s key rivers and lakes is at risk, warn international environmental groups Rivers without Boundaries, International Rivers, Friends of the Earth US, Urgewald and CEE Bankwatch Network in a formal request sent today to the World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Investment Bank (EIB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), Islamic Development Bank (ISDB) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Read more

EU budget gap holding back municipal waste reform and decarbonisation in central and eastern Europe

10 March, 2025

A new report by Bankwatch, Za Zemiata and Zelena Akcija, in collaboration with Zero Waste Europe, reveals that current EU budget allocations for circular economy and municipal waste management measures are insufficient to help central and eastern European countries catch up with the EU’s decarbonisation targets.

Read more

Ringing the bell for gender equality and diversity: European public banks must do more for women’s rights and economic empowerment

7 March, 2025

In the current age of ‘competent white men’, ‘traditional family values’ and the EU’s simplified sustainable finance regulations, what lies in store for the inclusion and equality policies of Europe’s public development banks?

Read more