For our rivers, for our lives – activists from across the globe meet in Tbilisi, Georgia
March 27, 2017
85 river and dam activists from 40 countries and all continents gather at a time when dams are back in fashion.
Tackling gender inequality at the EU’s flagship energy project
March 7, 2017
It is fitting that we use today to reflect on the European Investment Bank’s new Strategy on Gender Equality and Women’s Economic Empowerment: 8 March is International Women’s Day. Adopted at the beginning of this year, the strategy complements the ban
Bulgaria risks unnecessary breach of nature laws, threatening EUR 800 million of EU funding
March 2, 2017
The building of an EU-funded motorway linking Bulgaria and Greece, through Kresna Gorge – a stunning wildlife haven protected by EU nature laws – would be a disaster for nature and local people, and could result in up to €781 million being returned to the European Commission, claim Bulgarian and international NGO experts.
Small is (not always) beautiful: small hydro development in the Western Balkans
February 28, 2017
It has long been recognised that the human and environmental costs of large dams are extremely high. But what about small ones? Here we unpack some of the myths being spread about small hydropower in the Balkans.
Under heavy skies: dire results from first independent pollution monitoring in Montenegro
February 23, 2017
It was ten in the evening on 17 December when my colleague and I arrived in Pljevlja, Montenegro. Although we could feel the smell of burnt coal already while driving there, the minute we set foot out of the car, the air was stifling. “This place remin
Lack of transparency hindering Czech export agency
February 15, 2017
Although not an institution that typically receives much fanfare, the export credit agency (ECA) in the Czech Republic has a poor track record worthy of more scrutiny. Its latest failure relates to a contract for the construction of a power plant in Tu
[Campaign Update] New blow to Bosnia-Herzegovina coal plans as Energy Community requires changes to permit
February 15, 2017
A new coal-fired power plant in Bosnia-Herzegovina will have adhere to stricter air quality standards, according to a new ruling by the Energy Community Secretariat. The decision comes in response to a complaint filed by the environmental NGO Ekotim regarding the environmental permit enabling the construction of the 350 MW Banovići power plant in north-eastern Bosnia-Herzegovina. The complaint, filed in July 2016, claimed that the Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism had failed to require pollution limits as obliged under the Energy Community Treaty.
Outsourcing accountability? The EIB’s failure to enforce environmental information disclosure in its intermediated loans
January 23, 2017
The European Investment Bank is known to have provided over EUR 22 million for the construction of at least 19 small and mini hydropower plants through financial intermediaries in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia between 2010 and 2
[Campaign update] Pljevlja residents protest against air pollution
December 23, 2016
Once again people from Pljevlja in northern Montenegro have taken to the streets to protest against the awful pollution that has been plaguing the town for years. Supported by NGOs Ozon and Green Home, the protest aimed to put pressure on the authoriti
[Campaign update] World Bank non-compliant with its own resettlement policies in Kosovo
December 19, 2016
The World Bank has this week published the Investigation Report of its Inspection Panel for the involuntary resettlement of residents in the village of Hade near Pristina in Kosovo. The investigation, undertaken following a complaint by current and for