July 25, 2023 | Read more Investors complain about excessive administrative requirements to build wind farms, but the poorly-controlled proliferation of hydropower plants indicates a dearth of environmental and social safeguards. How can sustainable renewables be built quickly enough while protecting nature and ensuring public participation?
July 20, 2023 | Read more Today, Bankwatch together with Ecoaction (1) and Razom We Stand (3) submitted initial comments to the European Parliament, urging the integration of the Partnership Principle and environmental conditionality in the legislation on the Ukraine Facility.
July 20, 2023 | Read more Bosnia and Herzegovina’s draft NECP finally looks to the future, plans no new fossil fuel power plants and significantly scales back unrealistic hydropower plans. But existing coal plants are to keep operating illegally and the draft is furtive about coal-to-biomass plans.
July 19, 2023 | Read more In recent years, Romania has witnessed a concerning rise in cases of environmental degradation and violations of nature protection laws. This trend has significant implications not only for the country’s natural heritage but also for the rule of law. Additionally, it poses challenges for environmental organisations and citizens that advocate for nature conservation. The long-contested small hydropower plant on the Taia river is a prominent case in point.
July 18, 2023 | Read more With the addition of the new REPowerEU chapter, the Czech recovery plan has undergone significant changes, particularly the removal of two fossil fuel projects that had been previously considered. However, crucial reforms are still needed to keep the country on track to meet its EU climate targets.
July 17, 2023 | Read more Serbia’s draft National Energy and Climate Plan is currently on public consultation until 28 July. But despite some positive measures, it raises more questions than it answers.
June 28, 2023 | Read more In 2022, deadly air pollution from the Western Balkans’ coal power plants increased compared to 2021, according to the fifth edition of Bankwatch’s Comply or Close report, published today (1). Emissions of all three regulated pollutants – sulphur dioxide (SO2), dust and nitrogen oxides (NOx) grew, and for the first time, the region’s overall limit for NOx was breached.
June 27, 2023 | Read more Hungary could escape the trap of fossil energy dependence with focused plans on energy transition and enhanced support for households.
June 27, 2023 | Read more In April 2023, Slovakia submitted a request to the European Commission to update its recovery and resilience plan, which involves the addition of an REPowerEU chapter. But although the plan includes appropriate measures to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, it still gives the ‘green light’ to fossil gas boilers and nuclear-derived hydrogen, while prioritising the profits of large companies over social facilities for older persons and other vulnerable groups.
June 23, 2023 | Read more A complaint by the Renewables and Environmental Regulatory Institute (RERI) and CEE Bankwatch Network (1) challenging Serbia’s failure to comply with pollution control rules under the Energy Community Treaty was recorded yesterday by the the Energy Community Secretariat in Vienna (2).
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