Blog entry | September 22, 2014
A new unit at the Kostolac coal-fired power plant in Serbia is the first coal project to be considered by the Espoo Convention Implementation Committee for transboundary impacts.
Blog entry | July 4, 2017
European citizens don’t want to be left out of decision-making over nuclear power. But a recent meeting of the Espoo Convention reveals how concerns over reactor life-time extensions are being sidelined.
Publication | March 30, 2015
In this letter 46 non-governmental organisations alarm European Union representatives involved in the decision-making at the EBRD and Euratom to the fact that Ukraine is pressing ahead with its plans to extend the life-time of its old nuclear reactors even though they are in breach of international law (Espoo Convention) and without proper impact assessments and despite UKraine’s obligations under the loans provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Euratom.
Publication | June 20, 2013
In March 2013 the Implementation Committee under the UN Espoo Convention ruled that Ukraine’s expansion of the lifetime of its old nuclear reactors is in breach of the Convention (more details in our press release). Nevertheless the European Commission plans to decide on a EURATOM loan for the project.
Publication | July 1, 2015
The request is made in the context of Ukraine’s obligations under the Espoo convention, such that the EBRD and EuroAtom should “take steps for suspending the loan proceedings until a full trans-boundary EIA process for nuclear units lifetime extension is launched and carried out in accordance with international treaties to which Ukraine is a party.”
Blog entry | May 18, 2020
Non-governmental organisations from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro on Friday submitted a complaint to the Espoo Convention on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s failure to carry out a transboundary environmental impact assessment for a series of dams planned near the Montenegrin border.
Publication | April 7, 2001
In this issue: EBRD: Language Apartheid * K2/R4, Bratislava Bridge * Motorway in Bulgaria * Public Transport in Hungary * Pulp Mill in Latvia * 10th birthday of Espoo Convention * New Study on IFIs in Russian Oil Sector
Publication | July 1, 2013
This letter, signed by 38 organisations, urges the European Parliament and the Council of Europe and other European bodies to use their political and financial leverage to ensure that the European Commission does not go ahead with a loan for Ukraine’s nuclear reactors until Ukraine resolves the issues regarding its non-compliance with the UN Espoo Convention (more background in this press release.
Publication | August 10, 2015
The European Commission stated in an earlier letter that any decision by Ukraine to extend the life-span of any of its nuclear power plants will require assessment under the Aarhus and Espoo Conventions. In this letter, Bankwatch offers evidence for how Ukraine is indeed extending the lifetimes of its nuclear reactors but not meeting its obligations under the conventions.
Publication | May 12, 2022
Serbia consulted its neighbour, Romania, about the transboundary environmental impact of its national Spatial Plan, supposed to cover the period between 2021 (!) and 2035. This time, with the text of the Spatial Plan in the language of the potentially affected public, i.e. Romanian, as required by the Espoo Convention. Bankwatch Romania submitted written input, highlighting, among others, that the so-called “gradual decarbonisation” mentioned in the Spatial Plan consists in reality of only 2GW additional installed capacity in wind electricity but of 4GW in new lignite and fossil gas capacity. Bankwatch Romania called for a revision of the Plan, which would account for a genuine decarbonisation in line with the Green Agenda goals, which means abandoning new lignite infrastructure plans.
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