Western Balkan cities: Pressure with no release
October 24, 2024
Using case studies from Belgrade, Sarajevo and Skopje, our report examines urban planning practices, the consequences of poor governance, and the need for sustainable infrastructure investment.
EU funds: Protecting or damaging nature? How to avoid harmful projects
October 21, 2024
The following recommendations how to prevent projects that damage nature from being financed in the future are based on the case studies from Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Poland and Slovenia.
Western Balkans: Civil society groups call on European Commission to strengthen support for just transition
October 4, 2024
A group of civil society organisations, including CEE Bankwatch Network, are calling on the European Commission and other actors to step up support for a just transition in coal-dependent communities in the Western Balkans.
Western Balkans: NGOs launch proposals to revive EU’s flagging Green Agenda
October 1, 2024
A group of 18 civil society organisations has today submitted proposals (1) to overhaul the EU’s Green Agenda for the Western Balkans, in advance of an official update scheduled later this year. They aim to increase the initiative’s focus, transparency and results and ensure more effective use of EU funds for environmental protection.
How to advance a just transition in the Western Balkans: Recommendations for the EU and national institutions
September 27, 2024
This briefing takes stock of the current situation with the decarbonisation of the Western Balkans’s economy and summarises the progress on just transition in each country.
European Parliament fails to halt disastrous hydropower project jeopardising local livelihoods and endangered species
September 27, 2024
WWF and CEE Bankwatch Network question the EU Commission’s reasons for putting this decades-old project on the Danube river on its priority investment list.
Turnu Măgurele – Nikopol Hydraulic Structures Assembly on the Danube river, Romania and Bulgaria
September 20, 2024
The project, if built, would not only devastate critical habitats, leading to the potential extinction of species such as the Danube sturgeons, but also displace local communities, disrupt existing investments, and violate several EU environmental directives.
Western Balkans: coal pollution increases due to government failures – new report
September 17, 2024
In 2023, Western Balkan governments’ dereliction of their law enforcement duties again allowed an increase in sulphur dioxide (SO2) pollution from the region’s antiquated coal power plants, according to the sixth edition of Bankwatch’s Comply or Close report, published today (1). Dust and nitrogen oxides (NOx) pollution from coal plants also continued to exceed legal limits.
Comply or Close 2024: six years of deadly legal breaches by Western Balkan coal plants
September 17, 2024
The end of 2023 marked six years since the deadline passed for power plants in the Western Balkans to meet new air pollution standards. Yet the deadly air pollution from the region’s mostly antiquated coal power plants has hardly decreased at all since 2018.
Romania’s big bet on fossil gas proves a reckless gamble
September 5, 2024
Romania has hit the EU funds jackpot, securing significant amounts for fossil gas projects. However, implementation has been sluggish. More concerningly, these projects could delay Europe’s energy transition and deepen Romania’s dependence on fossil fuels.
