April 5, 2023 | Read more The Estonian government is considering pumping money into controversial nuclear power. Instead, it should strengthen its efforts to ensure a resilient, fully renewable and decentralised energy infrastructure.
March 30, 2023 | Read more In February and March 2023, our environmental organisation Za Zemiata (Friends of the Earth – Bulgaria) organised several meetings in Stara Zagora and Galabovo in south-central Bulgaria dedicated to just energy transition and the development opportunities it offers the region. Our main aim was to involve local stakeholders whose voices have thus far been ignored. Participants included representatives of civil society, members of small and medium-sized enterprises and academics from Trakia University in Stara Zagora. Unfortunately, despite efforts to foster dialogue between business, civil society, academia and the institutions, the absence of the municipality, which was invited to attend the meetings, was notable.
March 30, 2023 | Read more Prague, Czech Republic – Plans for EUR 3.5 billion of new gas-fired power plants, pipelines, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in the Western Balkans would force countries to import far more gas than they have in the past, introducing economic and energy security risks into the region’s already challenging energy transition, finds new research from Global Energy Monitor and Bankwatch.
March 28, 2023 | Read more After years of hydropower-related controversies, Kosovo’s long-awaited new Energy Strategy confirms that the government does not support new development in the sector, due to its environmental impacts. It also sends promising signals on carbon pricing and solar and wind development. Still, the country needs to avoid wasting money on coal and gas.
March 14, 2023 | Read more 60 civil society organisations have sent a joint letter to the EU Commissioner for Environment, Virginijus Sinkevičius, calling on the EU to better protect nature during energy infrastructure development under the Energy Community Treaty (1).
March 13, 2023 | Read more The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing funding to Tbilisi City Hall to purchase metro cars for the Georgian capital’s metro system from a Russian company, Metrowagonmash. The company is part of Transmashholding, whose shareholders – Russian oligarchs Iskander Makhmudov and Andrey Bokarev – are closely linked with the Kremlin and its defence industry. Metrowagonmash’s sister company is also reportedly providing engines for Russian warships.
March 13, 2023 | Read more The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is providing funding to Tbilisi City Hall to purchase metro cars for the Georgian capital’s metro system from Russian company Metrowagonmash. But Metrowagonmash is not just any Russian company.
March 9, 2023 | Read more CEE Bankwatch Network and ÖKOBÜRO have initiated legal action (1) to uphold EU environmental law and public consultation requirements when building renewable energy facilities. The groups argue that an emergency regulation adopted by the Council of the European Union in December 2022 breaches EU and international law.
March 3, 2023 | Read more The lack of modernisation and rehabilitation of Romania’s district heating systems is felt most strongly by the inhabitants, but it also affects local budgets and has a negative impact on the environment.
February 27, 2023 | Read more In December 2022, the Council of the European Union adopted an emergency regulation aimed at speeding up renewable energy deployment. But Member States have to uphold environmental safeguards and consult the public if they don’t want to end up doing the opposite, warns our new position paper.
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