Publications

In the decade leading up to 2020, the Western Balkans’ energy transition got off to a poor start, with governments limiting wind and solar investments and instead incentivising a small hydropower boom, which has damaged pristine rivers and streams across the region.

As the EIB reviews its Energy Lending Policy, Bankwatch and 33 other civil society groups, sent a joint letter o EIB Vice Presidents, to voice our concern about the over-emphasis on hydrogen which risks, among others, diverting renewable energy capacity – existing and planne…

The end of 2022 marked five years since new air pollution standards entered into force in the Western Balkans on 1 January 2018. Yet the deadly air pollution from the region’s mostly antiquated coal power plants has hardly decreased at all. In fact, in 2022 it increased comp…

In this issue paper, we argue that the recovery of the agricultural sector should not solely focus on production growth goals but also prioritise the long-term sustainability of Ukraine as it progresses towards EU membership. 

The report has been written in the frame of the Citizens Observatory for Green Deal Financing project. It brings together the direct experience of nine different civil society organisations and includes seven individual case studies providing information from the ground. 

A year and four months after the start of Russia’s large-scale war, Ukraine is on the verge of large-scale reconstruction. The country requires significant investments to reconstruct territorial communities in order to restore life, return residents, recover economic activit…

Ukraine aims to transition to 100 per cent renewable energy sources and safely decommission its nuclear power plants by 2050. To achieve these goals, future investments in the energy sector must be underpinned by a policy of zero tolerance toward fossil fuels.

Ahead of the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2023, Bankwatch has prepared a short guide with key issues and recommendations for the international community and international financial institutions to ensure a successful reconstruction of Ukraine.

This briefing calls on policymakers to strengthen citizen participation in the energy transition through the ongoing revision of the recovery and resilience plans and drafting of the REPowerEU chapters.

In 2022, Bankwatch and its partner civil society organisations provided the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) with over twelve reports highlighting human rights concerns related to investment projects in the Bank’s countries of operation. However, none…

This report reveals how much EU public money has been channelled toward the expansion of fossil gas infrastructure in Poland and Romania since 2014 as well as what plans these two countries have for using various EU funding sources to finance additional fossil gas projects i…

This report assesses the extent to which the actions, targets and objectives set out in Yerevan’s GCAP have been implemented and how this has affected the city’s environmental conditions.