February 20, 2024 | Read more Kyrgyzstan is one of the few countries in Central Asia with an active and vibrant civil society, represented by strong human right defenders and active environmental and social issue groups. Last year, however, the Kyrgyz government proposed two repressive laws on non-governmental organisations and the media, which represent a major setback for the country’s democratic future.
February 16, 2024 | Read more A European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) compliance review has vindicated Mostar complainants affected by the Corridor Vc in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Now the Federation of BIH government, with support from the EU and European public banks, must ensure effective remedy.
February 14, 2024 | Read more As the EU reduces its gas consumption, North Macedonia is planning the opposite. Why is it building a large new import pipeline, why has it failed to consult the public, and why are EU banks supporting it?
January 30, 2024 | Read more North Macedonia has ever-more-ambitious plans to increase the use of fossil gas. But these were developed before the recent energy crisis. In addition to the climate havoc, import dependence and fossil-fuel lock-in wrought by gas, a new study shows that pipeline construction costs have increased, high household gasification rates are unlikely, and significant household solar, heat pumps or retrofits could be financed instead.
January 25, 2024 | Read more Samarkand is the first city in Uzbekistan to join the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s Green Cities programme. Preparations for a Green City Action Plan (GCAP) have already begun, with stakeholder engagement workshops now underway. However, Samarkand residents are concerned that a strategic general urban plan has not been put in place to ensure the GCAP recommendations are implemented.
December 22, 2023 | Read more Bitola in North Macedonia is currently pursuing a decades-old district heating plan connected to the nearby coal power plant – which will, however, close in a few years. But better alternatives exist, as discussed at a recent event in the city, and young people, especially those involved in information sciences and technology, should play a key role in moving them forward.
December 21, 2023 | Read more In the last two decades, residents of Vlora, a lively tourist city on the Albanian coast, have had a slew of mostly unsuccessful oil and gas projects foisted on them. No wonder a recent event there called on the government to stop its costly fossil fuel experiments and seize the opportunity to declare Albania’s electricity production and consumption 100 per cent renewable.
December 21, 2023 | Read more A new briefing by Biofuelwatch, launched today, has revealed that the planned use of biomass energy crops in a new unit at the Tuzla coal power plant in Bosnia and Herzegovina is an unfeasible and environmentally risky endeavour.
December 15, 2023 | Read more The board of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) decided yesterday, 14 December, to green-light a new energy lending policy that, with some caveats, allows for continued financing of fossil gas pipelines and gas-fired power plants.
December 13, 2023 | Read more Promoted as a means to diversify gas sources, an agreement signed earlier this year by the Bulgarian government to import fossil gas from Turkey is only likely to provide a backdoor for Russian energy and undermine efforts to alleviate Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels
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