Infographic: Growth, poverty and mining in Mongolia
March 15, 2015
This infographic juxtaposes Mongolia’s impressive economic growth over the last years with the still widespread poverty in the country.
Climate change: time for the Energy Community to take action
March 10, 2015
This report, commissioned by CEE Bankwatch Network and carried out by think-tank Change Partnership finds that countries of the Energy Community risk wasting hundreds of millions of Euros on outdated energy infrastructure if they do not adopt policies to tackle climate change.
Country-specific recommendations in support of the European Semester Process 2015
February 25, 2015
The European Semester should be further developed to become an effective governance and enforcement mechanism that can ensure coherence between national fiscal policies and overarching sustainable development objectives. Environmental NGOs have carried out a consultation among their networks of members and national experts and are providing concrete Country Specific Recommendations for 21 Member States as well as the Eurozone in general.
The dash for gas in Ukraine – current trends in the production of unconventional reserves
February 25, 2015
This study assesses the potential for the use of hydraulic fracturing in Ukraine, looking into potential impacts and costs as well as putting together the country’s experiences with the technology to date. The report highlights the fact that Ukrainian companies have used hydraulic fracturing before the shale gas boom with at least two dozens of companies involved in the drilling. (In Ukraine, no specific rules or laws exist that would regulate the use of this hydraulic fracturing. The activities of relevant companies are governed by laws applicable to conventional oil and gas production.)
Letter to EBRD: Nuclear inspections must continue in Ukraine
February 16, 2015
In a bid to help the recession-hit Ukrainian economy, the country’s government has significantly reduced regulatory obligations for businesses and state-owned companies. This includes Ukraine’s nuclear power plants which have been plagued in the recent past by ageing reactors and accidents and whose safety upgrades are receiving support from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Euratom. In this letter Ukraine Bankwatch member group is asking the EBRD to pressure the government to ensure that the Ukrainian state nuclear regulator SRNIU is able to carry out inspections of nuclear power plants.
European Fund for Strategic Investments: focus on low carbon, clean energy and resource efficiency investments
February 16, 2015
The European Commission President Juncker’s ‘Investment plan for growth and jobs’ is aiming at mobilising EUR 315 billion of additional investments by 2018. A proposed regulation setting up the framework of the EFSI is currently negotiated in the European Parliament and the Council and its adoption is envisaged for June 2015. This briefing, prepared by Bankwatch, Counter Balance, Friends of the Earth Europe and WWF Europe stresses that this regulation should give clarity on how the fund will contribute to the achievement of EU long-term objectives, its added-value for the EU and the expected benefits for European citizens: all projects benefiting from the fund should explicitly accelerate the transition of Europe’s economies, infrastructure investments should aim at the decarbonisation, decentralization and decrease of energy and transport systems, R&D focusing on the absolute decoupling of resource use and production.
European Semester 3.0 – Strong policy coherence needed to rebuild trust and a sustainable development perspective
February 10, 2015
The European Semester should be further developed to become an effective governance and enforcement mechanism that can ensure coherence between national fiscal policies and overarching sustainable development objectives. To this extent national Environmental Fiscal Reforms (EFR) should be accelerated via the European Semester and Member States national public spending and investment plans should be checked against their delivery on sustainable development.
Civil society aiming to clamp down on EIB tax haven evasiveness
February 2, 2015
Pressure is mounting on the European Investment Bank to take swift action that addresses weaknesses in its policy on lending to businesses based in tax havens.
Key civil society messages on the EIB climate policy
February 2, 2015
This briefing was presented to the directors of the European Investment Bank during a meeting with civil society organisations.
Eight things to give the EIB’s forthcoming climate policy meaning, purpose and ambition
February 2, 2015
The European Investment Bank, as the EU’s lending arm, needs a lending policy on climate protection which properly reflects the EU’s climate policies and legislation.
