Left jobless after eviction from Vinca landfill, Roma begin negotiations with Belgrade after complaint to the EBRD
April 22, 2021
The EBRD’s accountability mechanism has launched a problem-solving initiative to negotiate issues of affordable housing, access to education and income generation for the Roma families that were evicted from the Vinča landfill. In the two years since the eviction, these issues were not addressed, so the EBRD’s mediators will facilitate a problem-solving process between this vulnerable group and the city of Belgrade.
A case study on the Beli Kamen and Komalj hydropower plants on the Crni Rzav and Ribnica Rivers in Serbia
April 22, 2021
The small hydropower plants Beli Kamen and Komalj are built on the Crni Rzav and Ribnica Rivers of the Drina basin in western Serbia. Both plants are interconnected, as they use water from the same intakes and were financed by the European Investment B
Scientific studies reveal river ‘sickness’ from small hydropower plants in Serbia
April 21, 2021
Projects financed by the EIB through secretive intermediary banks destroy 10 km of supposedly protected rivers for only 2 MW of energy.
Energetska zajednica: očuvanje okoliša i biološke raznolikosti pretvorilo se u „mrtvo slovo na papiru“
April 21, 2021
Hrvatska, Albanija, Bugarska, Bosna i Hercegovina, Sjeverna Makedonija, Crna Gora, Rumunjska i Srbija potpisnice su ugovora o osnivanju …
District heating in the Western Balkans – we need clean, modern heating that works for everyone, for the long term
April 20, 2021
Heating in the region is still largely based on fossil fuels or wood, the district heating networks are in dire condition, and in poorly insulated buildings winter is not as cosy as it could be. Authorities across the Western Balkans need to pay much more attention to planning and implementing clean and modern heating solutions.
NGOs expect Energy Community infringement procedure on Montenegrin coal plant
April 19, 2021
Montenegro has recently confirmed that its highly polluting Pljevlja coal plant has exceeded its allowed operating hours under the Energy Community Treaty, yet no moves have been made to close the plant. This threatens to create a worrying precedent if not tackled.
Opportunities for biodiversity and environment missed in Bulgarian recovery plan
April 15, 2021
Instead of reforms, the country plans to rehab an irrigation system that can potentially destroy wetlands, and without transparency and public dialogue, the plan cements business-as-usual. With a 30 April deadline for submitting national recovery plans approaching and recent parliamentary elections, the Bulgarian government is failing to propose reforms and measures for biodiversity, sustainable agriculture and low carbon economy. Instead, actions such as rehabilitating state-owned irrigation systems not only contradict national strategies but might damage valuable wetland habitats. A lack of transparency and public dialogue casts a further shadow on the process.
Saving ‘private’ Rioni: Georgia’s growing environmental protest
April 9, 2021
In just a few months, a protest against a large dam on the Rioni River has grown from a handful of people in Lechkhumi, western Georgia into a national demonstration. On the International Day of Action for Rivers, 14 March, thousands of Georgians made history with the largest environmental protest in the country’s recent past.
District heating
April 7, 2021
Winters have become a stark reminder that we need to speed up the energy transition. In central and eastern Europe and the Western Balkans, district and individual heating are still dominated by polluting, expensive fossil fuels and other unsustainable energy sources. Europeans deserve warm homes without having to fear exorbitant energy bills, chronic air pollution or an out-of-control climate crisis. More national and local governments need to utilise European public finance to tap the massive potential of various renewable energies to power district heating systems so we heat homes, not the planet.
La conservación de la biodiversidad debe ser una prioridad de la Comunidad de la Energía
April 4, 2021
Foto-ilustración: PixabaynEl Tratado de la Comunidad de la Energía debe cumplir con las directivas pertinentes de la UE para reducir el …
