Climate action at the European Investment Bank: an overview
December 13, 2019
The EIB had already proclaimed itself the EU’s climate bank long before the vdLeyen EU Commission presented the idea of transforming a part of the Bank into Europe’s Climate Bank. It has been over a decade now since the EIB committed at least 25% of its finance to support the transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy.
Chinese-financed coal projects in Europe
December 10, 2019
As coal phase-out is well underway in the European Union, and the international community is mobilizing to tackle the climate crisis, new coal plants are still planned and built in Southeast Europe, courtesy of Chinese financial support.
Comply or close: how Western Balkan coal plants breach air pollution laws and what governments must do about it
December 10, 2019
In 2018, pollution control legislation under the Energy Community Treaty finally obliged the Western Balkan countries to start reducing the choking air pollution from their coal power plants. Action was badly needed. In 2016, these 16 plants emitted as
Great exportations: aligning Europe’s export credit agencies with the EU’s pro people and planet policy agenda
November 20, 2019
This document aims to provide information to Members of the European Parliament about the size, scope and lack of sufficient transparency at the export credit agencies (ECAs). The paper proposes changes to make the ECAs climate- friendly institutions,
What can the new European Parliament expect on the ICT agenda
October 31, 2019
The production of ICT has a huge impact on the environment, climate change, human rights and working conditions along global supply chains in the Global South. This document aims to provide information to Members of the European Parliament about sustai
State Capture: A case study about natural gas exploitation and transportation in Romania
October 17, 2019
At a time when public calls for tackling the causes of the climate crisis are growing, Romania’s gas industry has been expanding, courtesy of the Parliament and international financial institutions. This report, by Bankwatch Romania, finds that much of
Letter: It’s time to stand firm and go Fossil Free
October 7, 2019
Bankwatch and over 70 other civil society groups have written to President of the European Investment Bank Werner Hoyer, members of the bank’s board of directors as well as the incoming President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and its
Why we need to MakeICT fair
October 1, 2019
Smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices have become omnipresent in our society. With an expected annual growth of 9.6 % between 2017 and 2022, Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) is one of the fastest growing industries. While eve
Western Balkans hydropower: who pays, who profits?
September 25, 2019
In the last decade, a wave of hydropower construction in the Western Balkans has caused ever-increasing public outcry. Large hydropower projects have long caused public resistance, but the mushrooming of smaller plants of less than 10 megawatts (MW) in
The transformation action plan for the Slovakia’s Upper Nitra coal region
September 24, 2019
The aim of this study is to describe the process by which local communities participated in the Transformation Action Plan of Coal Region Upper Nitra and to propose concrete steps towards the better integration of the local communities in order to achi
