Marubeni and Alstom’s corruption records cast new doubts on Croatian coal project, warns new analysis
October 2, 2014
Zagreb — Japan’s Marubeni Corporation and France’s Alstom – who have together been chosen as the preferred bidding consortium for the Plomin C* coal power plant project in Croatia – have a poor integrity record including several convictions for corruption offences which should raise alarm bells and increase vigilance among the Croatian public and potential financiers of the project, according to a new paper by CEE Bankwatch Network, published today.
Visegrad countries pose fresh threat to 2030 targets
October 1, 2014
Brussels – The group of four Visegrad countries (Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia) plus Romania and Bulgaria declared yesterday their readiness to block EU 2030 binding renewables and energy efficiency targets which are to be agreed upon at a European Council Oct. 23-24. Yet cracks are appearing in the group.
Big EU energy projects cannot be chosen behind closed doors, say NGOs
September 29, 2014
Brussels — As a new process of identifying big EU energy Projects of Common Interest (PCIs) kicks off in Brussels today, environmental NGOs warn that the EU must only prioritise energy projects which are not destructive of the environment and climate, and that the choice of these projects must be done through a transparent process.
Energy Community meeting must deliver reforms
September 22, 2014
Brussels – A group of leading NGOs active in the Balkan region are calling for urgent reform of the Energy Community Treaty, as its Ministerial Council prepares to meet in Kiev on September 23rd. The groups are calling for both the expansion of the environmental and climate component of the Treaty and measures to ensure that existing obligations are better enforced.
New Commission might sideline environment in CEE
September 11, 2014
Brussels — The priorities of European Commission president elect Jean-Claude Juncker for the newly-announced Commission threaten Europe’s climate and resource efficiency ambitions, says CEE Bankwatch Network. Particularly worrying from the perspective of CEE countries is an apparent shift in the vision of Regional Policy from making the European economy more sustainable, to “jobs, growth, investment and competitiveness” without any nod to green energy and resource efficiency.
Europe’s finance ministers urged to stop EU Bank’s ‘extraordinary’ slide towards secrecy
September 11, 2014
Campaigners across Europe are urging the European Commission and their Ministers of Finance to halt a dangerous slide towards secrecy of the giant European Investment Bank (EIB), of which the EU member states are owners.
Azerbaijan political prisoners list published with report’s authors on it
August 19, 2014
London — Human rights activists in Azerbaijan published yesterday a list of 98 people who are currently political prisoners in the country run by the authoritarian regime of Ilham Aliyev. Ironically, the list includes the names of two of its authors, prominent rights activists Rasul Jafarov and Leyla Yunus, who were arrested under false charges earlier this month while they were working on the report.
EBRD in Serbia: Don’t use floods to prop up coal
July 7, 2014
The EBRD should stick to its newly approved Energy Strategy and reject any investments in the Serbian coal sector, argue a group of 7 international NGOs in a letter sent to the bank’s board of directors today. The groups were concerned with recent statements by the EBRD according to which the bank’s regional flood response in the Balkans could include “rehabilitation of (…) damaged power stations and transmission and distribution networks.”
Massive EU infrastructure priority projects lack mandatory environmental assessment
June 26, 2014
EU heads of state gathering today and tomorrow will discuss the European Energy Security Strategy promoting a number of massive infrastructure projects which include gas pipelines, LNG terminals and storage facilities even though their overall environmental impact has not been adequately assessed. Environmentalists are currently battling the European Commission over this issue in Court.
New mega gas pipelines redundant according to EU’s own projections
June 12, 2014
The EU’s plans for large new gas import pipelines and LNG terminals to Europe, outlined in the European Commission’s October 2013 list of priority energy projects as well as in the May blueprint for energy security to be discussed during tomorrow’s Energy Council, are not only counter to the EU’s long-term climate goals but also unjustified according to the EC’s own demand forecast.
