February 22, 2023 | Read more Under the absurd claim that the country doesn’t have enough motorways or hydropower generation capacity because of NGOs’ actions in court challenging environmental and construction permits, the Romanian parliament is going after civil society altogether and on multiple fronts.
February 20, 2023 | Read more People living in the settlements adjacent to landfills slated for expansion under an EBRD waste management project were not adequately consulted.
February 17, 2023 | Read more The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) appears keen to finance a major new pipeline to import fossil gas from Greece to North Macedonia, which would lock the country into increased fossil gas use for decades. Yet when the rationale for this is questioned, the EBRD fails to provide relevant data to justify its claims.
February 13, 2023 | Read more Today, scientists and non-governmental organisations from 11 countries have published a list of 88 rivers they consider high priority for protection, urging Western Balkan countries that have signed the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention) to expand the Emerald Network in the region.
February 6, 2023 | Read more The dispute over the rule of law between Poland’s government and the European Commission culminated in a recent announcement by EU officials to block funds for Poland. The country’s authorities must take the Commission’s reservations seriously and address them immediately. Meanwhile, they must start implementing investments planned in the cohesion policy programmes as soon as possible to better address the challenges posed by the climate and energy crises.
February 3, 2023 | Read more On 1 February, representatives of Ukrainian and international civil society organisations sent an open letter to Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission. In the letter, they call on the European Union to support civil society engagement and the incorporation of green principles into Ukraine’s reconstruction process, which will go hand in hand with the country’s EU accession.
February 2, 2023 | Read more After years of community complaints about the environmental and social damage caused by Ukrainian agro-giant Myronivsky Hliboprodukt (MHP), independent investigators are now looking into the role of international public finance in contributing to those harms. Considering the current food crisis, Ukraine’s important role in the global food supply chain and the prospect of more international investments to prop up Ukraine’s economy, it is time for financiers to learn the lessons of their past mistakes.
January 30, 2023 | Read more North Macedonia’s government, through the state-owned energy production company AD ESM, has spent hundreds of millions of euros on imports of coal, heavy oil and fossil gas to keep the country’s fragile energy system going during the energy crisis. The result is a significant increase in emissions of air pollutants and serious damage to the environment and public health.
January 25, 2023 | Read more Speeding up investments in a sustainable district heating system powered by solar energy would not only help cut greenhouse gas emissions and heating bills; it would actually save lives.
January 23, 2023 | Read more In October 2022, the EBRD published no fewer than eight environmental and social assessments on the Greece – North Macedonia fossil gas pipeline for public consultation. Thousands of pages analyse every nook and cranny along the planned route, but fail to notice the elephant in the room: the project’s massive greenhouse gas emissions.
Stay informed
Receive our monthly overviews of the latest developments on the ground.
