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New EBRD Environmental and Social policy needs climate muscle and tightened safeguards for protected areas

Bankwatch Mail | 10 May, 2013 | Download PDF

If there is one sector in which the EBRD has been causing particular controversy in recent years, it is the energy sector. From lignite in Slovenia to hydropower in Georgia and nuclear in Ukraine, the bank has financed a series of projects that have incurred opposition from various quarters. Now that the EBRD is revising its Environmental and Social Policy it’s time to take a look at what needs to be learned from these projects.


Connie Hedegaard: Stop paying the polluters

Bankwatch Mail | 10 May, 2013 | Download PDF

“When the winds of change blow,” says an old Chinese proverb, “some build walls, and others build wind mills.”


When in hole, stop digging: lessons from the Ombla hydro project in Croatia

Bankwatch Mail | 10 May, 2013 | Download PDF

At the time of writing, it is highly uncertain what the future holds for the controversial 68 MW Ombla underground hydropower plant. Approved for financing by the EBRD back in 2011, only recently has a nature impact assessment study finally been published, and no final opinions have been given by either state institutions or the EBRD on whether the project is to go ahead.


Armenia gold mining problems cast shadow over renewed EBRD financing

Bankwatch Mail | 10 May, 2013 | Download PDF

The attention of the environmental community in Armenia has recently been focused on events swirling around the Deno Gold Mining Company (DGMC). The company has been contending with rising tensions in Kapan as a result of its laying off of workers at its gold mining operations coupled with failings at its Geghanush tailings facility. The controversies have arisen just as the company awaits disbursement of a new loan from the EBRD.


More questions than answers – the EBRD’s new country strategy for Russia

Bankwatch Mail | 10 May, 2013 | Download PDF

The new EBRD country strategy for Russia that will apply for 2013-2015 attracted input and comments from several human rights and environmental watchdogs, among them Human Rights Watch, WWF, Greenpeace and Bankwatch. As part of the consultation on the new strategy, NGOs expressed concerns about the current political and social situation in Russia as well as the dangers of natural resource development. The comments were incorporated into the strategy document but it remains unclear if NGOs were able to influence actual decision-making.