Western Balkans decarbonisation is urgent: but the EU enlargement package is still sending mixed signals
November 10, 2023
The European Commission’s annual reports on the Western Balkan countries’ EU accession progress vary considerably on decarbonisation, sending mixed messages on coal and especially gas. The EU needs to take a more consistent approach if the region is to achieve decarbonisation by 2050 at the latest.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s draft NECP: The good, the bad and the ugly
July 20, 2023
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s draft NECP finally looks to the future, plans no new fossil fuel power plants and significantly scales back unrealistic hydropower plans. But existing coal plants are to keep operating illegally and the draft is furtive about coal-to-biomass plans.
Comply or Close 2023: five years of deadly legal breaches by Western Balkan coal plants
June 28, 2023
The end of 2022 marked five years since new air pollution standards entered into force in the Western Balkans on 1 January 2018. Yet the deadly air pollution from the region’s mostly antiquated coal power plants has hardly decreased at all. In fact, in 2022 it increased compared to 2021 for all three regulated pollutants
New report – deadly legal breaches by Western Balkan coal plants increased in 2022
June 28, 2023
In 2022, deadly air pollution from the Western Balkans’ coal power plants increased compared to 2021, according to the fifth edition of Bankwatch’s Comply or Close report, published today (1). Emissions of all three regulated pollutants – sulphur dioxide (SO2), dust and nitrogen oxides (NOx) grew, and for the first time, the region’s overall limit for NOx was breached.
Serbia: Complaints over illegal operation of Morava coal power plant
June 23, 2023
A complaint by the Renewables and Environmental Regulatory Institute (RERI) and CEE Bankwatch Network (1) challenging Serbia’s failure to comply with pollution control rules under the Energy Community Treaty was recorded yesterday by the the Energy Community Secretariat in Vienna (2).
369 million euros of North Macedonia’s public money going up in smoke
January 30, 2023
North Macedonia’s government, through the state-owned energy production company AD ESM, has spent hundreds of millions of euros on imports of coal, heavy oil and fossil gas to keep the country’s fragile energy system going during the energy crisis. The result is a significant increase in emissions of air pollutants and serious damage to the environment and public health.
Romania U-turns on decarbonisation to expand a lignite mine in Gorj and wipe out 106 hectares of forest
January 13, 2023
The Romanian government is again acting contrary to its EU commitments.
Let the sunshine in: how a coal region in North Macedonia can switch to sustainable heating
December 21, 2022
The government in North Macedonia wants to link the 40 year old REK Bitola power plant to the regional heating system. But cementing the dependence on fossil fuels would be reckless. Instead, a new study finds that fitting houses in Bitola with air conditioning and solar panels could keep people warm, cut air pollution and even shield against increasingly volatile energy prices. Such households forming energy communities, the study shows, could not only lower initial investments but even generate them some income.
Može li politika EU pokrenuti dekarbonizaciju na Zapadnom Balkanu?
December 7, 2022
Izazovi koje će novi mehanizam za prilagodbu ugljika na granicama (CBAM) donijeti zemljama zapadnog Balkana bili su u središtu panel …
Can EU policy drive decarbonisation in the Western Balkans?
December 7, 2022
The challenges that the new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will bring to the Western Balkan countries were the focus of a panel discussion hosted by MEP Petros Kokkalis (the LEFT) and co-organised by CEE Bankwatch and the Green Tank that took place on Tuesday December 6 at the European Parliament.
