May 12, 2009 | Read more ArcelorMittal needs to move beyond good intentions on environmental and social improvements and turn words into deeds. Despite its rhetoric on social responsibility, the company continues to destroy the environment, risk peoples lives and displace local communities, according to a new report launched today by the Global Action on ArcelorMittal coalition to coincide with the company’s annual shareholder meeting in Luxembourg.
March 24, 2009 | Read more Today’s announcement by the Polish government that the Rospuda Valley, a Natura 2000 protected area, is not to be devastated by a major bypass road has been hailed by campaigners from CEE Bankwatch Network, OTOP – Birdlife Poland, Greenpeace Poland and WWF Poland as a major victory for the environment, for Polish and European law and for the general public interest.
March 13, 2009 | Read more The unprecedented economic crisis has the potential to provide a significant boost to the environment. Today, investing in a green economy and green jobs is seen as one of the top priorities for moving beyond the crisis. This unique window of political opportunity for the promotion of green investments should not be missed – and how European public money is to be used to get us out of these economic straits is on the line next week.
March 12, 2009 | Read more The European Investment Bank (EIB) has today extended EUR 3 billion in soft loans to eight European carmakers for the development and production of cleaner vehicles. CEE Bankwatch Network and Greenpeace call on the EIB to ensure that money goes to initiatives with a true impact on cutting carbon emissions from cars and not just to small-scale greenwash projects.
February 16, 2009 | Read more “RegioScars” awards for the most unsustainable spending of EU funds in Central and Eastern Europe were awarded today by CEE Bankwatch Network and Friends of the Earth Europe. The prizes went to two projects in the Czech Republic and Poland currently in line for support from EU regional aid, and to Latvia’s government for a decision to rule out wind energy projects from EU funds support because of the economic crisis.
January 20, 2009 | Read more Residents of the Bulgarian village of Poibrene have today taken their long-standing concerns about the potential introduction of controversial cyanide technology at the Chelopech gold mine – led by Canadian firm Dundee Precious Metals – directly to the Bulgarian ministries of environment and health and to the Sofia office of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the publicly-owned development bank that is a potential funder of a USD 150 million project that could see cyanide leaching introduced at the gold mine without inclusive public consultation.
November 6, 2008 | Read more The environmental assessment (EIA) of a waste management project proposed by Sofia municipality to deal with the Bulgarian capital’s chronic waste problems has been criticised by Bankwatch’s Bulgarian member group Za Zemiata for failing to consider an alternative waste management scenario officially submitted by NGOs in collaboration with experts and researchers from Europe and the U.S. Such a procedural breach of Bulgarian EIA legislation should, believes Za Zemiata, rule out vital EU funding that the authorities in Sofia are seeking for the EUR 175 million project. [1]
November 1, 2008 | Read more 3000 citizens from the city of Vlora in Albania held a large protest rally this weekend at the coastal site that has been designated as the construction site for an oil and gas terminal and a thermo power plant. The protestors called on national institutions to respect their right to a local referendum on the constructions. They also urged the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) not to provide finance for projects that do not respect local public rights to participate in decision making and that will have strong negative impacts in the very sensitive area of Vlora Bay. [1]
July 21, 2008 | Read more The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is no longer considering financing for a controversial hydrocarbons terminal in Vlora, Albania.
May 13, 2008 | Read more A newly-formed coalition of environmental and community groups [1] – Global Action on ArcelorMittal – today released a report showing how local residents and workers around the world pay the price of ArcelorMittal’s success.
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