June 2, 2021 | Read more Although the Hungarian recovery and resilience plan has undergone major changes since its first draft, it is still far from ensuring a green and just recovery. Despite MTVSZ / Friends of the Earth Hungary’s proposals, the final version leaves households alone in their efforts to improve energy efficiency and fails to propose easily-achievable biodiversity measures. If small modifications are made during the EU-level approval process, the plan could be improved considerably.
May 31, 2021 | Read more Several EU states plan to use the EUR 672 billion Recovery and Resilience Facility to expand fossil gas infrastructure using loopholes in the fund’s regulations. These proposals do not comply with objectives of the European Green Deal and recent recommendations from the International Energy Agency to end funding for fossil fuels, warns CEE Bankwatch Network.
May 26, 2021 | Read more Earlier this week, Serbian media announced that plans for the new 350 MW Kolubara B coal power plant have been halted. This is a strong demonstration of political will as the Ministry for Mining and Energy seeks to steer the country towards energy transition. Several more courageous moves will be needed to cement this path and make sure no-one is left behind.
May 19, 2021 | Read more For too long, transparency and public participation have been a low priority for the European Investment Bank (EIB). Now it appears the world’s largest international lender is even in breach of international environmental law on access to information and public participation.
May 19, 2021 | Read more State support for exports is one part of a national budget where citizens are not sufficiently informed about how their taxes are being spent, and this is problematic given the vast financial flows to investments with questionable results.
May 18, 2021 | Read more Based on three years of working on just transition in central and eastern European countries, Bankwatch has put together a set of guidelines which countries in the Western Balkans now embarking on the process can use to launch their own just transition.
May 17, 2021 | Read more Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić has today taken part in what was billed as a groundbreaking ceremony for the hotly disputed Buk Bijela dam on the upper part of the river Drina in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The event has been met by opposition from Serbia, Montenegro and BiH, as well as scepticism about the project’s readiness.
May 10, 2021 | Read more The European Commission’s oversight of the sustainability assessments of priority-labelled gas infrastructure projects in the Western Balkans will be investigated by the European Ombudsman, following a Bankwatch complaint about their climate footprint.
May 6, 2021 | Read more Mining raw materials such as cobalt or lithium for information and communications technologies (ICT) or decarbonized mobility comes with a hefty environmental, social, and human rights price tag. With Europe’s green and digital transformation topping the Portuguese EU presidency, besides driving innovations in the transportation sector, clear policies and funds are needed to encourage reduced resource consumption while making supply chains of these minerals fair and sustainable.
May 5, 2021 | Read more Water is leaking out of Shuakhevi hydropower plant’s recently reopened dam again. With three international financial institutions involved, who’s responsible for the safety of this USD 420 million project?
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