What we do - Bankwatch

From a grassroots to the international level …

We’re the largest network of grassroots, environmental and human rights groups in central and eastern Europe.

We monitor public finance institutions that are responsible for hundreds of billions of investments across the globe. The banks and funds we watch are often obscure but always important entities that function outside public scrutiny.

Together with local communities and other NGOs we work to expose their influence and provide a counterbalance to their unchecked power. We investigate the impacts of public finance, work with affected communities and local organisations across the world and help them protect their rights and livelihoods. We make sure their stories are being told in Europe’s power centers.

We regularly meet representatives of the institutions we monitor and we’re in Brussels, too, doing our bit to make Europe a fairer, cleaner and sustainable place.

Alternative news

We expose the risks of international public finance and bring critical updates from the ground.

We believe that the billions of public money should work for people and the environment.

CAMPAIGN AREAS

Beyond fossil fuels

Coal is an outdated industry on its last leg. Public finance can move our economies in a new, socially responsible direction.

Rights, democracy, development

Public money must not become an auxiliary for human rights violations or the marginalisation of affected communities.

Finance and biodiversity

A clash is raging between nature and finance. Our work where finance meets the natural world advocates for adequate protection and restoration projects to ensure a green future for all.

Energy transformation

We work to ensure that EU financial flows address the climate crisis and do no harm to people and nature. We do this by involving the public in the design and spending of EU investments.

Cities for people

City residents should have a say in how this money is spent in their cities. Their voices can help make their cities more resilient in the face of climate challenges.

INSTITUTIONS WE MONITOR

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

European Investment Bank

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Asian Development Bank

OUR PROJECTS

Emerald Network in the Western Balkans

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

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

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.