Major blow to Bosnia hydropower project as Germany’s KfW drops financing plans
January 28, 2022
German development bank KfW has today confirmed that it is dropping plans to finance the controversial Janjići hydropower plant on the river Bosna in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
EU bank chief ‘ready to close gaps’ on rights abuses and environmental damage
January 27, 2022
At today’s annual press conference of the European Investment Bank, president Werner Hoyer committed his institution to be ‘second to none’ and take steps to correct a poor record of human rights violations and environmental damage caused by the world’s largest international lender.
NGOs hail Chinese banks’ exit from Bosnia’s controversial Ugljevik III coal plant project
January 18, 2022
Republika of Srpska and China National Electric Engineering Corporation urged to follow.
Western Balkan countries need a dedicated fund to ensure a just energy transition – new report
January 11, 2022
The earlier a country’s coal-phase out commitment, the higher its share of a Just Transition Fund for the Western Balkan countries, finds a model-based analysis by The Green Tank and CEE Bankwatch Network, published today.
EU bank freezes funding for major Budapest Airport expansion over sweeping violations of environmental norms
January 10, 2022
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has suspended the disbursement of a EUR 200 million loan intended to facilitate a dramatic increase in passenger turnover at Hungary’s main international airport following an investigation by the Bank’s Complaints Mechanism that found that no analysis had been done to assess the air pollution, noise pollution and greenhouse gas emissions that the development would generate, in breach of the Bank’s own policy as well as EU environmental law.
Secret negotiations and fossil fuels plague planning of EU’s just transition away from coal
December 15, 2021
The public has largely been kept in the dark by Member State governments in central and eastern Europe about their plans to move EU regions away from a dependency on coal, leaving the door open for other funding schemes to support fossil fuels projects.
Bern Convention to investigate hydropower damage to the upper Neretva River in Bosnia and Herzegovina
December 3, 2021
Bosnia and Herzegovina will be subject to a fact-finding mission for its failure to protect the upper Neretva river from eight planned hydropower plants, following a decision taken by the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention (1) today. The Convention’s decision comes in response to a complaint submitted by environmental organisations last year.
Loan guarantee for Bosnia’s Tuzla 7 coal plant confirmed as illegal
November 30, 2021
A public loan guarantee for the planned Tuzla 7 coal power plant in Bosnia and Herzegovina is illegal under the Energy Community Treaty, the Ministerial Council of the Energy Community has confirmed today (Tuesday). If realized, the project would aggravate Tuzla’s air pollution and prevent Bosnia and Herzegovina decarbonising its economy for decades to come.
Members of the Romanian Parliament attempt to scapegoat environmental NGOs for increasing electricity and gas prices
November 29, 2021
Romanian environmental NGOs Agent Green, Bankwatch Romania and Eco-civica were summoned last Friday to a hearing in front of a parliamentary inquiry committee this Thursday (2 December) in what appears to be a thinly-veiled attempt to shift the blame for increasing electricity and gas prices onto civil society organisations.
Major setback on transparency at the EIB
November 18, 2021
Yesterday, the European Investment Bank (EIB) – the financial arm of the EU – approved a new Transparency Policy that will allow the bank to keep hiding information on projects it finances despite their potential impacts on people and the environment.
