Invest in haste, repent at leisure – Are IFIs behaving as if EU accession criteria and extreme energy losses do not exist in South East Europe?
June 25, 2013
South-eastern Europe is riddled with poor planning and corruption in the energy sector and its governments are proving slow to react to the challenges and opportunities offered by the decarbonisation agenda.
A tale of neglect: Energy finance figures from the Western Balkans
June 25, 2013
The neglect by international financial institutions of the Western Balkans sustainable energy potential will cost the region’s public heavily for years to come. Figures collected in a new study illustrate how the different international lenders perform in the region.
Development banks energy investments jeopardise the ability of Balkan accession countries to meet EU energy and climate targets, says new report
June 25, 2013
Brussels, Belgium – Heavy investments in fossil fuels by international financial institutions (IFIs) in the Western Balkans are hindering these countries’ compliance with EU accession requirements, finds a new report – “Invest in Haste, Repent at Leisure” – from civil society organizations CEE Bankwatch Network, SEE Change Net and WWF, created as part of the SEE SEP (South East Europe Sustainable Energy Policy) programme.
No end in sight for EBRD coal finance
May 10, 2013
Istanbul – With the 2013 EBRD annual meetings underway and in spite of repeated commitments to sustainability, the bank is set to continue financing coal projects that will dangerously aggravate climate change.
Health impacts of coal quantified – public lenders urged to act
May 10, 2013
The findings of a recent report entitled ‘The unpaid health bill: How coal power plants make us sick’, released by the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL), detail the health impacts of existing coal in Europe and quantify the associated costs of mortality and chronic respiratory and cardiovascular disease due to coal pollution.
More dirty coal on the radar as EBRD announces new strategy for Kosovo
May 10, 2013
The EBRD’s new country strategy for Kosovo, announced by the bank on May 3 after Bankwatch Mail Issue 56 went to press, has confirmed what NGOs and others had feared in the consultation process for the EBRD’s first strategy in its new country of operation: that financial support for a new major lignite power plant is very much on the EBRD’s radar, despite evidence that Kosovo does not need such a power plant as well as the potential undermining of EU climate goals.
Input for online questionnaire on Projects of Energy Community Interest
April 29, 2013
Our input expresses our main concern relating to the need to develop an energy sector in southeast and eastern Europe that is in line with EU environmental and climate policies and legislation, as well as one which addresses the increasing problem of energy poverty through sparing and efficient energy use. We underline the need for the PECIs projects to be in line with current and forthcoming EU legislation and policies on climate, environment, renewable energy and energy efficiency.
NGO letter regarding Projects of Energy Community Interest
April 29, 2013
The letter accompanied Bankwatch’s and other NGOs’ input to the public consultation on the proposed Projects of Energy Community Interest in the electricity, gas and oil sectors. With the letter, civil society groups jointly address several important matters about the process, scope and selection criteria. See also Bankwatch’s inputs to the consultation.
The climate crisis and the role of Europe’s public banks
April 22, 2013
With each passing day, there is less chance that we will manage to keep the planet within the “safe” limit of two degrees Celsius global warming that would avoid disastrous climate change. The European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development can play a pivotal role in leveraging more private investment for sustainable energy. Both institutions are now reviewing their energy lending policies.
EBRD with disastrous start in Kosovo, European Parliament not amused
April 19, 2013
The European Parliament yesterday chastised the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for its explicit interest in financing a new lignite-fired power plant in Kosovo. NGOs hope the bank will pay more attention to the Parliament than it did to civil society and energy experts so far.