July 10, 2014 | Read more Biodiversity offsetting in the European Union would be a dream come true for some investors – and a nightmare for nature.
July 9, 2014 | Read more While Ukraine’s aging coal power infrastructure is causing pollution and energy loss in the country, coal-based electricity is exported at a dumping price to EU countries.
July 7, 2014 | Read more The EBRD should stick to its newly approved Energy Strategy and reject any investments in the Serbian coal sector, argue a group of 7 international NGOs in a letter sent to the bank’s board of directors today. The groups were concerned with recent statements by the EBRD according to which the bank’s regional flood response in the Balkans could include “rehabilitation of (…) damaged power stations and transmission and distribution networks.”
July 2, 2014 | Read more A new report by the Belgrade-based NGO CRTA shows that the Serbian government is supporting the Kostolac coal power plant and mines with loan guarantees and potentially VAT exemptions. Propping up the already dominant coal sector, however, will likely further increase Serbia’s vulnerability to extreme weather events. Increasing Serbia’s energy efficiency and renewables generation would be the wiser choice.
June 26, 2014 | Read more EU heads of state gathering today and tomorrow will discuss the European Energy Security Strategy promoting a number of massive infrastructure projects which include gas pipelines, LNG terminals and storage facilities even though their overall environmental impact has not been adequately assessed. Environmentalists are currently battling the European Commission over this issue in Court.
June 26, 2014 | Read more On Friday Georgia will sign an association agreement with the European Union, meaning that our country will start cooperating more closely with the EU and even implement more European legislation. This is good news, particularly when it comes to the environment.
June 18, 2014 | Read more South and eastern European member countries of the Energy Community may soon have to be much more ambitious about environmental standards in the energy sector. This is because the Energy Community, the body that aims to create a common energy market between the EU and some of its neighbours, may be about to introduce more of the EU environmental acquis into its Treaty.
June 12, 2014 | Read more Montenegro’s new draft energy strategy needs cutting down to size if environmental and economic damage is to be avoided.
June 12, 2014 | Read more The EU’s plans for large new gas import pipelines and LNG terminals to Europe, outlined in the European Commission’s October 2013 list of priority energy projects as well as in the May blueprint for energy security to be discussed during tomorrow’s Energy Council, are not only counter to the EU’s long-term climate goals but also unjustified according to the EC’s own demand forecast.
June 4, 2014 | Read more During last month’s EBRD annual meeting in Warsaw, Bankwatch Mail convened a discussion about the state of the Polish economy between a financial journalist and a sociologist – both residents of the Polish capital – to hear their views on some of the pressing economic issues of the day, as well as the ongoing Polish ‘transition’ process. With the 25th anniversary of the end of communist rule in Poland a few months away now (today in fact marks a quarter of a century since the first Polish elections under communism), what have been the achievements and the lessons to be learned from the last two and half decades?
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