The EU’s house bank obstructs climate action with continued fossil fuels spending and lacking investment in sustainable energy – new report
September 6, 2018
Prague – A new Bankwatch analysis released today shows that in the years 2013-2017, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has invested EUR 18.4 billion in renewable energy projects in Europe and beyond, but at the same time handed out EUR 11.8 billion in EU public money to fossil fuels projects. The new report details a set of measures – including an unequivocal commitment to end support for fossil fuels – that can be introduced in the course of the upcoming review of the EIB’s energy strategy to ensure the world’s largest public lender facilitates the global effort to tackle the climate crisis, rather than hamper it.
Court complaints launched against Bosnia-Herzegovina hydropower permits
July 26, 2018
Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Nikšić, Podgorica, Prague – The Aarhus Resource Centre Sarajevo has submitted two court complaints [1] to the District Court in Banja Luka against the environmental permits for the Buk Bijela and Foča hydropower plants on the river Drina in Bosnia-Herzegovina near the border with Montenegro.
Pipeline mired in controversy gets half a billion euros from European development bank
July 4, 2018
Brussels, London, Rome, Prague – Today the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved a loan of EUR 500 million for the multi-billion euro Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) [1], in spite of the project failing to conform to the bank’s own policies and the fervent local resistance following the 878-kilometre pipeline where it crosses land in Greece and Albania before arriving onshore in Italy.
Promises for coal jobs in southeastern Europe are dangerously out of touch with reality – new study
June 28, 2018
Prague – Proponents of coal say almost 30,000 jobs will be created or maintained in southeastern Europe if new coal plants are built, while according to new analysis [1] by Bankwatch, over 5,000 jobs will be lost.
Over 120,000 petition development banks to Save the Blue Heart of Europe and drop destructive hydropower in the Balkans
June 21, 2018
London, Prague, Radolfzell, Vienna – Representatives from the Save the Blue Heart of Europe campaign to save Europe’s last remaining wild rivers [1] handed in a petition endorsed globally by more than 120,000 people, calling on international development banks to rein in financial support for hydropower projects in the Balkans.
At 60, EU public bank needs fundamental reform – civil society groups
June 18, 2018
The European Investment Bank (EIB) needs to end its investment in fossil fuels and boost support for sustainable energy, reinforce its public accountability, and prioritise human rights, a group of 21 European NGOs write in a letter to EU finance ministers.
Charges brought against development banks over half a billion euros for Ukraine’s largest agribusiness firm
June 5, 2018
Prague, Kyiv, San Francisco – Three communities in the central Ukraine region of Vinnytsia have filed formal grievances at the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, alleging that the industrial poultry giant Myronivsky Hliboproduct (MHP) has failed to ensure basic transparency regarding the environmental and health impacts at its ‘largest poultry farm in Europe’. [1]
Commission rules for spending 300 billion euros in Cohesion funds misses opportunity to push for protections to climate and the rule of law
May 29, 2018
Brussels, Prague – The European Commission has missed the opportunity to set a course that addresses climate change and establishes a strong framework for ensuring Member States’ respect for the rule of law, as it seeks to leverage the EU budget after 2020 to bring states in line with EU priorities.
European Ombudsman requests more lending transparency from European Investment Bank
May 24, 2018
Brussels — The European Ombudsman has asked the European Investment Bank (EIB) to increase transparency in its lending activities.
Post 2020 EU budget: Commission proposal promises sustainability but continues funding contradictory policies
May 2, 2018
Budapest, Brussels, Prague – Today the European Commission published its proposal for the next EU budget after 2020, the Multiannual Financial Framework. Civil society organisations within the People’s Budget campaign [1] call on Member States to translate the Commission’s pitch into the bold proposal that Europe needs for a brighter future.
