NGO letter to EIB President on Covid-19 crisis response
April 28, 2020
Bankwatch and 11 other civil society groups have written to President of the European Investment Bank, Werner Hoyer, to urge the bank to move quickly to solidify the EIB’s claim to be the “EU Climate Bank”, enhance its transparency, and make it a centr
Financing a just transition in Gorj, Romania
April 14, 2020
The report Financing a just transition in Gorj, Romania analyses the way EU funding was spent between 2007 and 2013 to mitigate the social costs of layoffs within Oltenia Energy Complex by retraining and labour market reintegration.
Joint NGO proposals on the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans
April 3, 2020
The Western Balkans has the necessary resources not only for sustainable renewable energy and energy savings, but also for the production of healthy food, while nurturing its exceptional biodiversity. With only 18 million inhabitants, change in the region should not be as daunting a task as in larger economies, if carried out efficiently, with true political commitment and regional cooperation.
Gone with the Flow, A case study of biodiversity loss caused by Ilovac Hydropower plant, Croatia
April 2, 2020
This case study aims to demonstrate that the EIB’s environmental and social (E&S) and transparency policies are insufficiently equipped to prevent the negative impacts of hydropower plants on sensitive ecosystems, in particular when the hydropower project (1) is financed via an intermediary bank and/or (2) is located outside of the EU.
Alarming levels of air pollution in settlements in coal regions are choking Central and Eastern Europe
March 4, 2020
Bankwatch’s ongoing air pollution campaign added six more locations to its independent particulate matter monitoring to provide on-the-ground data from these major polluting locations.
Financing the low carbon transition in Romania
February 21, 2020
Romania is the country in the South East European and Central East European with the best enabling conditions for the energy transition. Yet it continues to be one of the lignite intensive countries in the EU. Read our report to explore why on the European scale, Romanians still pay more than their European counterparts for the costs of this carbon intensive energy system.
Romania’s coal phase-out by 2030: an unreachable goal?
February 14, 2020
National Energy and Climate Plan is a fundamental document that will define Romania’s ambitions in the field for the next decade. The recently published NECP is unambitious and it ignores Romania’s enormous potential for green economy transition and the European Green Deal.
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
