For media inquiries and e-mail subscription to Bankwatch’s press releases, please contact our media officer:
Ido Liven
e-mail: ido.liven@bankwatch.org
Tel.: +48 22 892 00 86
skype: ido.bwn
Browse our press releases below
Thousands demand European development bank stops financing fossil fuels
Press release | 27 September, 2023Over 6200 emails have been sent to the European Bank for Reconstruction Development (EBRD) calling for its next energy policy to end financing for fossil fuels and step up investments in the energy transition.
Read moreBulgarian court rules out Sofia waste incinerator plant due to unassessed health risks and lack of public consultation
Press release | 26 September, 2023After eight years of litigation, Sofia’s Administrative Court overturned the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for a waste incineration plant in the Bulgarian capital. Expected to burn processed waste in the form of refuse-derived fuel (RDF), the plant would have put the health of Sofia’s residents at risk, polluted the air, generated toxic ash and created additional traffic, the court ruled.
Read moreWhy we’re taking legal action on renewables permitting
Blog entry | 22 September, 2023It might seem counterintuitive for organisations that promote a sustainable energy transition to challenge EU initiatives to speed up renewable energy deployment. But due to undemocratic decisions that undermine environmental safeguards and public participation, that’s what we’ve been compelled to do.
Read moreSkavica mega dam: Albanian court to scrutinise special law for U.S. contractor Bechtel
Press release | 21 September, 2023Nature conservation and human rights organisations have secured an important first milestone in the fight against the planned 210 MW Skavica hydropower plant in the Albanian municipalities of Kukës and Dibër.
Read moreCivil society groups urge the EBRD to rethink mining investments
Press release | 20 September, 2023Twenty civil society organisations from Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Mongolia, Uganda, Ukraine and Uzbekistan, as well as seven international environmental and human rights organisations, are calling on the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to reconsider its approach to mining investments.
Read moreLegal challenges hit Greece – North Macedonia gas pipeline plans
Press release | 19 September, 2023Non-governmental organisations CEE Bankwatch Network and Eko-svest have submitted three formal complaints alleging legal breaches in the planned Greece – North Macedonia fossil gas pipeline project.
Read moreRenewables boost much-needed, but weakening of environmental safeguards inexcusable
Press release | 12 September, 2023The European Parliament plenary today approved an updated Renewable Energy Directive setting a new renewable target of 42.5 per cent by 2030. The changes give a much-needed boost to small-scale solar and heat pumps, but undermine existing environmental legislation. Some renewables will be allowed to skip crucial environmental assessments and more damaging projects will be allowed in the EU’s protected natural areas.
Read moreComplaint filed against EBRD: labour rights violations, land grabs and exploitation at cotton producer Indorama Agro in Uzbekistan
Press release | 5 September, 2023On 3 August 2023, Uzbek Forum for Human Rights (Uzbek Forum), assisted by Bankwatch Network, filed a complaint with the Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM) of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for human rights violations at Indorama Agro, one of Uzbekistan’s largest cotton producers.
Read moreIs this development? Public development banks must rethink their investments and put local communities first
Blog entry | 4 September, 2023On 4 to 6 September, the world’s public development banks will gather for the Finance in Common Summit in Cartagena, Colombia. They’ll be discussing key development issues – from climate change to infrastructure – issues that affect the lives of millions of people around the world. Bankwatch is on the ground to expose the adverse impacts of investments made by development banks and advocates for meaningful community participation in decision-making on development projects.
Read moreCivil society calls on public development banks to overhaul their approach to development
Press release | 4 September, 2023As a member of the Coalition for Human Rights in Development, Bankwatch has joined civil society organisations and human rights defenders from over 20 countries in calling for immediate and effective action from public development banks.
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