What’s Fuelling the Czech Automotive Motor? How the EU Modernisation Fund Subsidized Škoda Energo’s Shift to Forest Biomass
November 5, 2026
The European Union’s Modernisation Fund was established with a clear mandate to help lower-income Member States transition toward climate neutrality by upgrading energy systems, boosting efficiency, and helping recipients withstand the socio-economic shocks of decarbonisation. It is financed by revenue from the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) as a way to turn industry’s carbon emission payments into needed capital for Europe’s energy transition. Yet, in the Czech Republic, the actual results of the Modernisation Fund have not advanced the energy transition nearly as far as it needs to be. One of the most glaring examples of this is in the district heating sector.
Vienna’s climate-resilient heating transition
November 5, 2026
Vienna is one of Europe’s leaders in district heating decarbonisation. The company running it is a publicly owned utility and its system is massive, covering 35 to 40 percent of Vienna’s heat market.
Enabling Civic Engagement in Uzbekistan
June 2, 2026
CEE Bankwatch Network and Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan ‘Ezgulik’, with financial support from the EU, are implementing the project ‘Enabling Civic Engagement in Uzbekistan’, aimed at strengthening the capacity of civil society organisations and empowering them to participate effectively in development projects and programmes across Uzbekistan.
Georgia’s East–West and North–South road projects: Counting the true costs of highway expansion
March 26, 2026
The East–West Highway and the North–South Corridor – two key road infrastructure projects supported by major multilateral development banks, have had devastating social, environmental and cultural impacts in Georgia.
Free-flowing rivers in Central Asia
March 3, 2025
Central Asian rivers are under threat from hundreds of new hydropower plants. We have created a map of the key rivers in the region that need urgent protection and are calling on the development banks to stop their destruction.
Emerald Network in the Western Balkans
November 27, 2024
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia are required to establish a sufficient number of Emerald Network sites as signatories to the Bern Convention. However, since 2011, not a single new site has been proposed and many stunning rivers remain unprotected. The #EmeraldForRivers campaign aims to support governments in expanding the Emerald Network.
Turnu Măgurele – Nikopol Hydraulic Structures Assembly on the Danube river, Romania and Bulgaria
September 20, 2024
The project, if built, would not only devastate critical habitats, leading to the potential extinction of species such as the Danube sturgeons, but also displace local communities, disrupt existing investments, and violate several EU environmental directives.
Indorama Agro: Uzbekistan’s infamous cotton producer
July 24, 2024
Despite being Uzbekistan’s largest cotton producer and receiving millions in development loans from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – institutions that promote modernisation and corporate responsibility – Indorama Agro faces multiple complaints of worker mistreatment and retaliation.
Zarafshan, Bash and Dzhankeldy wind projects, Uzbekistan
May 9, 2024
The first large wind projects in the Central Asian country are being built in biodiversity hotspots and hinder the declaration of protected areas. The IFC, EBRD and ADB need to ensure that some of the most problematic turbines are moved away.
Upper Horizons hydropower scheme, Bosnia and Herzegovina
June 14, 2023
A series of dams, diversion tunnels, hydropower plants and channels will completely change the natural hydrology of eastern Herzegovina and have unpredictable impacts on wetlands, rivers and underground karst.
