Will energy efficiency be sidelined in the Energy Union’s implementation?
June 8, 2015
EU energy ministers are meeting in Brussels today to discuss the implementation of the Energy Union. Looking at what has been discussed so far, the strategy may not prioritise energy efficiency enough to help Europe become climate-friendly.
Europe’s Caspian gas dreams – a nightmare come true for human rights in Azerbaijan
May 14, 2015
As investors and officials are promoting a gas pipeline project from the Caspian Sea to Italy, the systematic repression of human rights in Azerbaijan is hardly on the official agenda. The Aliyev regime’s weakly veiled attempts to muzzle dissent illustrate how even the most repressive governments are acceptable partners for Europe’s pet energy projects.
Repression and carbon lock-in required for security and sustainability?
May 14, 2015
With construction of the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) in Turkey getting under way, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) consortium awarding contracts for the construction of access infrastructure in Albania, and Russian pipeline plans lagging behind, the Southern Corridor for Azerbaijan’s gas exports to Europe is increasingly looking like a done deal. Or at least that is what the project promoters would have us believe.
Infographic: If energy security is the question … the Euro-Caspian Mega Pipeline is not the answer
April 29, 2015
Europe talks of diversifying energy supplies from Russia by building a set of pipelines from the shores of Azerbaijan’s Caspian Sea to Italy. But the EU’s dependency on Azerbaijan for fossil energy fuels repression and feeds the authoritarian Aliyev regime. All the while, Europe does not need all that gas.
Jailing of prominent human rights activists in Azerbaijan casts a shadow over Europe’s planned gas deals with the Aliyev regime
April 24, 2015
London, Prague — Azerbaijan’s authoritarian regime has been intensifying its crackdown on civil society with the recent jailing of two leading human rights defenders. The Aliyev regime has gained much of its political and financial clout by siphoning off proceedings from the country’s vast oil and gas reserves. These are the same reserves that the EU is now planning to make its next big source of gas, and the same government that the EU still considers a legitimate partner.
Letter to European Commission: Request for information on EIB’s involvement in the Transadriatic Pipeline (TAP)
April 9, 2015
Given the size of the Southern Gas Corridor project it is important that its effects on the environment and especially nearby Natura 2000 sites are duely accessed and that the necessary time to conduct public consultation both in the EU-28 countries and outside of the EU-28 as indicated to the Commission during various meetings related to the second list of PCIs preparation.
Bankwatch statement on today’s EU Council decision about the ‘Energy Union’
March 19, 2015
Europe’s leaders have failed today to live up to their commitments and make the EU’s energy future more sustainable. The Commission’s ‘Energy Union’ strategy endorsed today by EU Heads of States prioritises new fossil fuel infrastructure at the expense of investments into energy savings and clean energy sources.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: An Energy Union torn between clean energy and fossil fuels
February 24, 2015
Brussels – The vision of Energy Union to be outlined by the European Commission tomorrow proposes making Europe a world leader in renewables and energy efficiency, but at the same time envisages significant investments undermining that goal, such as gas import infrastructure, nuclear and dirty unconventional fossil fuels.
EU priority gas pipeline faces fierce opposition in Italy
February 17, 2015
The European Investment Bank recently confirmed plans to finance the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline from Greece via Albania to Italy. Yet a coalition of local mayors will do whatever it takes to stop the project.
EIB Climate Action undermined by bank’s fossil fuel lending
February 11, 2015
Brussels — Ahead of a public consultation on the European Investment Bank’s Climate Action Programme tomorrow in Brussels, Bankwatch insists that, if the bank’s pro-climate efforts are to be effective, the EIB must give up its loans to fossil fuels and other climate-damaging sectors.
