Khimki Forest activist wins Goldman Environmental Prize
April 16, 2012
One of this year’s winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize is Russian Khimki Forest defender Evgenia Chirikova, but the good news is being overshadowed by continued violence against other Khimki activists.
Yet another bail-out package? A comeback to ‘The Vienna Initiative and financial stability in emerging Europe’
March 30, 2012
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development promotes the support for western European banks in central and eastern Europe although evidence for this initiative’s success is disputable at best.
ARCHIVED: Zombie reactors in Ukraine
March 7, 2012
While the European Union is trying to help Ukraine’s political transition, Europe’s financial support is cementing the country’s dependence on an outdated and highly unsafe nuclear sector. To avoid further instability and political and environmental risks, European institutions need to offer better oversight and funding for alternative energy sources.
Romania: New coal plants to be built with EU aid for greening economy
February 22, 2012
Bucharest – One of the eight Member States applying for EU help consisting of free of charge GHG emissions allowances from 2013 to 2019, Romania intends to implement investments which will lead to maintaining or even increasing the high share of coal in the country’s electricity production, thus contradicting the goals of the EU aid scheme.
Relocation of the main train station in Brno, Czech Republic
February 8, 2012
Against overwhelming public opposition, Brno hopes to relocate its main train station with the help of EU funding. Reconstructing the current station would be a much more effective use of public money and wouldn’t complicate the lives of tens of thousands of people.
EU cohesion funds spent on ‘harmful’ projects
February 3, 2012
A new report claims that “substantial” environmental and social harm is being caused by EU-funded projects. Friends of the Earth Europe and CEE Bankwatch Network mapped 33 “harmful” projects in central and eastern Europe with total costs of €16bn.
EU states resist plan for greener cohesion funds
February 3, 2012
Member states are opposing proposals to earmark some cohesion funds for low-carbon projects under the next EU budget and to make funding conditional on compliance with environmental laws, according to green groups. http://www.endseurope.com/28084/eu-states-resist-plan-for-greener-cohesion-funds
EU funds spent on ‘environmentally harmful’ projects
February 2, 2012
BRUSSELS – Waste incinerators instead of recycling, highways running through nature parks, airports in protected areas – 33 projects in central and eastern Europe funded with €16 billion out of the EU’s regional policy coffers are “environmentally harmful”, says a study published on Thursday (2 February) by Friends of the Earth Europe and Bankwatch, a coalition of environmental NGOs. “These 33 projects are economically dubious, socially harmful and in breach of environmental law,” Markus Trilling from Friends of the Earth Europe said during a press briefing.
Tragedy or comedy, what is the Nabucco pipeline really?
January 19, 2012
The announcement of German energy giant RWE to reconsider its plans for the Nabucco pipeline is just the last in a series of confusingly conflicting signals regarding the fate of this gargantuan project.
Deja vu for Vienna II – a sustainable recovery is needed for the CEE financial sector
January 16, 2012
As pressures mount on western European banks to shore up capital ratios and with 2012 economic growth forecasts for Europe falling close to zero, officials from the European Central Bank, the European Commission, and several international financial institutions (IFIs) are meeting today in Vienna with regulators from CEE countries to discuss a second round of financial support for a fragile CEE banking sector.