Countering shrinking space: How multilateral development banks can empower civil society in the Western Balkans, Caucasus and Central Asia
February 25, 2025
This report examines how multilateral development banks have failed to adequately protect civil society in the Caucasus, Western Balkans, and Central Asia.
How to interact with development banks lending to hydropower projects in Central Asia: A toolkit for civil society activists
February 3, 2025
This toolkit is aimed primarily at civil society organisations in Central Asia tackling the construction of dams or other unsustainable water infrastructure.
EBRD’s Independent Project Accountability Mechanism investigates the Indorama Agro cotton project in Uzbekistan
January 16, 2025
Following multiple allegations of human rights violations by Indorama Agro on a controversial cotton project funded by public development banks, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)’s Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM) has finally launched an investigation to determine whether the project adheres to the EBRD’s environmental and social standards.
Is crypto keeping Tajikistan’s Rogun Dam project afloat?
December 23, 2024
In a letter sent earlier this year to Bankwatch, World Bank officials defended Rogun as a potentially “transformative clean energy project that will improve domestic and regional welfare and contribute to the decarbonization of regional power grids in Central Asia, provided it is managed under sound macro-economic, commercial, and social and environmental sustainability frameworks.”
Joint statement: Urgent call to IFC and EBRD to impose conditionalities on Oyu Tolgoi’s new loan
December 20, 2024
Civil society organisations from across the globe have signed a joint statement opposing a proposed new loan for the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia.
The World Bank should reconsider its mega dam project in Tajikistan
December 16, 2024
Providing funding to a repressive regime to construct the ‘highest dam in the world’ is a recipe for disaster.
SOCAR – Azerbaijan’s Fossil Fuel Proxy
October 8, 2024
As Azerbaijan prepares to host the UN’s 29th Climate Conference (COP29) in November, environmental and human rights organizations Urgewald and CEE Bankwatch launch a special report on the country’s state-owned oil and gas company, SOCAR.
Bishkek’s sustainable urban mobility development: A review of current policies and investments with recommendations for enhanced transformative impact (long version)
August 14, 2024
As Bishkek’s population grows, public transport in the Kyrgyz capital is clearly lagging far behind demand. A new research paper, produced in collaboration with our Kyrgyz partners Peshcom, maps the situation of sustainable urban mobility development in Bishkek.
The last trolleybus of Bishkek: mayor’s decision defies logic and undermines foreign investments in green transport
July 19, 2024
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) need to investigate the impact of their public transport projects in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan as the city’s urban mobility system gets a complete overhaul without transparency or public participation.
Uzbekistan: Indorama Agro silences workers speaking out about human rights violations, according to new investigations; co. didn’t respond
July 5, 2024
Since 2020, Uzbek Forum for Human Rights (UFHR) and Bankwatch have been monitoring and registering numerous labour rights and freedoms …
