Uphill battle for Commission to bring Member States in line with new Biodiversity Strategy
May 20, 2020
The European Commission’s new Biodiversity Strategy 2030 published today has the right tools in place to safeguard nature but only if it can enforce the laws that Member States have at times skirted with impunity in the past, says CEE Bankwatch Network.
Development Finance for Covid-19 Crisis Should Uphold Human Rights
May 18, 2020
Global Coalition Calls for Essential Services, Economic Justice, Protection for Vulnerable Communities and the Environment
Moment of truth for EU as over one million people and 100 NGOs call for green, healthy and just recovery
May 14, 2020
Over one million people and 100 environmental NGOs across Europe are calling on the European Union to restart its economy by launching the biggest green investment plan the world has ever seen, financed by the bloc’s increased budget and recovery instrument. Tomorrow [Friday], MEPs will decide what they want in the EU’s Recovery Fund and seven-year budget ahead of the European Commission’s much awaited proposal next week.
Armenia breaks international agreement on biodiversity over gold mine funding, alleges complaint
March 30, 2020
Yerevan – The Armenian government has jeopardised three natural sites slated for protection for their unique biodiversity by moving ahead with plans for the USD 426 million Amulsar gold mine, finds a new complaint filed at the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, known as the ‘Bern Convention.’
Legal challenge mounted against subsidies for Belgrade waste incinerator
March 2, 2020
Serbia’s Ne Davimo Beograd movement has submitted two complaints to the Energy Community Secretariat, challenging government decisions for the Suez-Itochu consortium’s 340,000 tonnes-per-year municipal waste incinerator in Belgrade (1).
North Macedonia government contemplates prompt coal exit
February 24, 2020
The government has approved a national energy strategy that makes it the first country in the Western Balkans to consider a coal phase-out before 2030.
Irrespective of the size, the EU budget must serve higher climate ambition
February 20, 2020
EU leaders hold today a special European Council meeting where they will discuss and maybe agree on the size and structure of the EU budget for the period 2021-2027. Regardless of the size, current proposals for the EU budget of the next decade fall short of ambitious climate action.
Mixed messages in Romania’s energy and climate plan, as new coal projects are shelved but no date set for a coal phase-out
February 17, 2020
Romania’s new national energy and climate plan (NECP) is sending incoherent signals regarding the country’s commitment for a just transition away from fossil fuels, finds an analysis by Bankwatch Romania.
EU Just Transition Mechanism needs local ownership and concrete steps to decarbonisation
January 10, 2020
The 7.5 billion euros revealed today in a leak of the EU’s proposed Just Transition Mechanism can lead a sustainable and economically-fair move away from fossil fuels in Europe’s carbon-dependent regions, but only if local stakeholders are involved in planning the transformation and the funding is consistent with climate targets.
Consensus on EU long term emissions reductions paves way for climate action in central and eastern Europe
December 13, 2019
At Thursday’s European Council meeting, Member States signed up to the bloc’s goal of becoming a net zero emitter of carbon by 2050, a commendable and essential step as the EU pursues the Paris Climate Agreement’s target of limiting temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius.