Publications

After years of delay, the New Kosovo lignite power plant took a step forward in 2017 with the signing of commercial contracts. However, numerous old issues, including carbon emissions, resettlement, and the dubious single-bidder procurement process, have not been resolved, a…

The economic viability of coal is ever decreasing. Without public financial support many coal investments are doomed to fail. Yet several institutions are still willing to finance an energy source that wrecks our climate, damages our health and wastes our money. In 2013 the…

The toxic wastewater spill from the Rotem Amfert plant that caused a severe environmental disaster in Ashalim Stream, Israel, in late June 2017 joins a long list of pollution events the company has been responsible for through the years. In fact, even its parent company, Isr…

Without adhering to the partnership principle, the Platform for Coal Regions in Transition risks benefiting coal companies at the expense of local communities, in blatant contradiction to its stated goal. In Poland and Slovakia, lack of transparency and insufficient particip…

The complaint alleges that since the start of MHP operations in Vinnytsia in 2010, continuous odor and dust from a significant and growing number of facilities and the application of manure on nearby fields has made local life untenable. MHP activities have also led to a dra…

In our opinion, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has failed to comply with the Standard 7 by not respecting the status of Svans as indigenous peoples. The Bank did not fulfill its environmental and social standards: it ignored the project’s significant impacts on Svans, th…

The conclusions of the EBRD’s Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) are not guided by detailed field work and focus group research with the affected communities – indigenous Svans, nor are they based on the robust and objective analysis of existing academic opini…

Several EU enlargement countries in the Western Balkans – as well as EU member states Romania and Greece – plan to build new lignite power plants. In contrast, the EU aims to decarbonise its energy sector by 2050, most EU countries no longer build new coal plants and seven E…

The banks have a responsibility to ensure that when they make an investment, they mitigate and avoid situations that put persons at risk. The Nenskra dam in Georgia is one example where the lack of proper environmental and social assessment can potentially unfold into a cris…

While it is positive that banks want to finance the much-needed transition away from coal towards renewable energy in the Balkans, it is crucial to ensure that the cure is not worse than the disease. Most of the projects planned in the Balkans are small. But their impacts ar…

Despite its commitments to increase the share of renewables under the Energy Community and reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the process of EU accession, the Serbian government seems determined to remain locked-in to a carbon intensive energy system, with several coal p…

Changes in the approach to governance put forward by the President Shavkat Mirziyoyev deserve to be encouraged by the international community. It is natural that the EBRD is ready to provide support to a country willing to accelerate reforms. However, the situation in Uzbeki…