Vulnerable households at risk: Central and eastern European countries struggle to finalise national social climate plans
June 13, 2025
With just weeks to go before the European Commission’s deadline for national social climate plan submissions, a new analysis by E3G and Bankwatch reveals alarmingly uneven progress across central and eastern Europe. Examining the state of play in eight EU Member States, the report highlights persistent transparency gaps, weak stakeholder engagement, and protracted delays.
Climbing together: Is the Social Climate Fund working for those who need it most?
June 13, 2025
This report evaluates the quality of stakeholder involvement and the design of national social climate plans in Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia.
From grassroots activism to fighting Goliath
June 2, 2025
From grassroots defiance to a force for accountability, Bankwatch’s story begins long before its founding in 1995. Amid collapsing regimes, our network channelled the energy of civil resistance into a brave new experiment in public oversight and transparency.
Strengthening Ukraine’s wind projects: Insights from the Galnaftogaz experience
May 27, 2025
Despite critical procedural and technical issues, the Galnaftogaz wind project in Ukraine, backed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, is underway.
International agribusiness ambitions leave local impacts in Ukraine: A case of Environmental Impacts from poultry producer MHP
April 17, 2025
Ukraine’s largest poultry producer, Myronivsky Hliboproduct (MHP), has received over a billion dollars in loans from international development banks since 2010 and has significantly expanded its operations. Local communities and environmental advocates argue that the company has failed to adequately address concerns regarding its environmental impact. This analysis examines the environmental issues surrounding MHP’s Vinnytsia Poultry Farm, focusing on water quality concerns and what appears to be insufficient environmental monitoring, to highlight what many stakeholders perceive as an urgent need for enhanced oversight of large agribusiness operations in Ukraine.
The need for phasing out peat to reduce climate crises: Latvia’s challenges and opportunities
March 25, 2025
The most significant uses of peat in the world are for the creation of soil substrates and the production of energy. In 2022, the peat sector was responsible for 10.7 per cent of Latvia’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Peatlands store twice as much carbon as forests worldwide.
Jiříkov’s path to a clean energy future
March 20, 2025
The profound transformation of Europe’s energy sector in response to climate change and the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions is having a particularly significant impact on regions that have long relied on fossil fuels, especially coal mining.
Preparing municipalities for the future: A guide to decarbonisation solutions
March 18, 2025
This guide provides an overview of possible funding streams and necessary steps to secure decarbonisation solutions for municipalities.
Zero Waste Europe: Despite EU waste management budget, CEE states struggle to catch up
March 17, 2025
Report co-authors Fidanka Bacheva-McGrath, strategic area leader at CEE Bankwatch Network, and Evgenia Tasheva from the Za Zemiata Zero Waste team, tell us that: “EU funding has disbursed significant amounts to much-needed investments in CEE since 2021, at least EUR 584 million went to waste incineration, and only EUR 228 million to biomass plants, mainly in the fund’s largest beneficiaries, such as Czechia, Poland, and Romania.”
Czechia wants to phase out coal. But is natural gas the solution?
March 10, 2025
According to calculations by CEE Bankwatch, the Czech plants near Vrato and Opatovice alone are getting a total of almost 350 million euros in subsidies from the EU Modernisation Fund.
