Publications

We welcome the AIIB’s decision to open the Energy Issues Note for public comment and the disclosure of the draft document under ‘Operational Policies’ on its website. However, to date, it is not clear whether the final product – the AIIB’s Energy Sector Strategy – will serve…

Countries of south-east Europe have outdated, polluting and wasteful energy systems. Change to this situation has been slow in coming. But are there signs of hope? This scorecard report seeks to answer this question by giving a glimpse into changes in the energy sector betwe…

Mongolia’s plans to build a 600 megawatt (MW) coal power plant at Tavan Tolgoi in the South Gobi Desert appear at odds with international commitments on climate change and with local realities.

A majority of the local population protests against the construction of the Shuakhevi HPP for various reasons, including issues related to land and water “grabbing”, geological risks posed by construction works, employment problems, etc. The purpose of this study is to asses…

Based on the analysis of the project documentation, independent media reports, surveys and discussions with local civil society revealed that the Nenskra project represents the perfect example of a gender blind project, where the project sponsor fails to identify the negativ…

In light of the upcoming review of Azerbaijan’s status in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), 18 international civil society organisations call on the EITI Board to suspend Azerbaijan from participation in the EITI, due to continuous breach of the initi…

This paper highlights the deficiencies of the partnership principle and public participation within the European Neighbourhood Policy, in terms of addressing the political and cultural situation in the region. The paper provides recommendations for improvement during the midt…

This report analyses projects approved by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) in its first year of operation. The fund should catalyse €315 billion in new investment, and play an important role in the fight against climate change. However, as the analysis find…

Based on a visit to Namibia this report assesses the environmental and social standards at the Tsumeb smelter, acquired by Canadian Dundee Precious Metals in 2010. The smelter specialises in working with some of the dirtiest copper concentrates half of which sourced from the…

The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the most western part of the Southern Gas Corridor, a pipeline project to bring gas from Azerbaijan to Europe is promoted by the European Commission as a strategic asset for Europe’s energy security. A July visit to over 30 Albanian village…

Espoo bodies sent several specific recommendations concerning its non-compliance with the Espoo Convention to Ukraine. Nonetheless Ukraine seems to be either ignoring those or taking insufficient steps towards compliance. Therefore Bankwatch summarises the state-of-play in t…

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Romania all plan new lignite power plants during the next few years. In contrast, most EU countries are giving up building new coal plants and seven EU states are already coal-free. Since the European Investment Bank, the Europe…