Illegal lignite mine expansion in Bosnia and Herzegovina prompts NGO formal complaint
July 30, 2020
The ongoing expansion at the Gacko lignite mine in Bosnia and Herzegovina, happening already for over three years and treated lightly by local environmental authorities, breaches the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive, argues the complaint submitted today to the Energy Community’s secretariat by the Center for Environment from Banja Luka. The organisation has sought remedies on domestic level on two occasions, but the Ministry of Environment took no action.
Priority energy infrastructure projects for the EU’s neighbours still anchored in fossil fuels
July 28, 2020
The energy projects proposed by the Energy Community countries for priority status, including privileged access to public funds, have now passed the evaluation stage, expecting a final decision by the year’s end. On the bright side, at least two megalomaniac projects were dropped. On the dark one, the remaining projects floor the gas pedal.
How to hit the ground running on just transition in the Western Balkans and Ukraine
July 15, 2020
As the European Commission gears up to launch an Initiative meant to help coal regions in the Western Balkans and Ukraine transition to sustainable economies, Bankwatch publishes today a set of recommendations based on its experience working with the Platform for Coal Regions in Transition, on which the new Initiative will be modelled.
How to hit the ground running on just transition in the Western Balkans and Ukraine
July 15, 2020
Recommendations for the Secretariat of the Initiative for Coal Regions in Transition in the Western Balkans and Ukraine
Between the hammer and the anvil
July 14, 2020
More than 90 per cent of Kosovo’s electricity generation comes from the two coal-fired power plants, Kosova A and Kosova B. But they are also the biggest polluters in the country and are responsible for most of the air pollution in the town of Obiliq, located between the two plants.
In the air tonight: visualising SO2 emissions from coal power plants in the western Balkans
July 8, 2020
Grasping what a 600% breach of allowed SO2 emissions means is not an easy job, but our data visualisation does just that. In addition to choking the communities where coal power plants are located, SO2 pollution from the Western Balkans often reaches as far as Russia and the Black Sea Coast to the east and Germany to the West!
РЕК Битола со најголеми емисии на сулфур диоксид на Балканот
July 1, 2020
Термоелектраните на јаглен на Западен Балкан продолжуваат да емитуваат „неверојатно високи количини на загадувачи во воздухот.“ РЕК Битола е еден од најголемите загадувачи, но граѓанските организации се сомневаат дека комбинатот ќе ги намали емисиите до 2027 година.
Tuzla sustainable heating alternatives analysis
June 30, 2020
CEE Bankwatch Network is looking for a consultant to identify and analyse alternative sustainable heating solutions for Tuzla in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Bosnia-Herzegovina: Illegal lignite mine expansion at Gacko must be halted
June 26, 2020
An environmental impact assessment process is currently ongoing to expand the open-cast lignite mine at Gacko in Bosnia-Herzegovina. But the mine expansion started long ago.
Western Balkan coal power plants breach pollution limits by 6 times, for the second year in a row
June 23, 2020
Two and a half years since pollution control legislation under the Energy Community Treaty obliged Western Balkan governments to apply EU norms, a new Bankwatch analysis finds air pollution – primarily sulphur dioxide (SO2) and dust emissions – from coal-fired power plants remains stubbornly high, choking communities across the region and beyond.