Hungary urgently needs a complete overhaul of its energy planning
Blog entry | June 27, 2023
Hungary could escape the trap of fossil energy dependence with focused plans on energy transition and enhanced support for households.
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The digital and green transitions’ impacts on the Global South
Event | May 4, 2023
The twin transition, green and digital, is being put forward within the European institutions as a central solution to combat the climate emergency. This technology-based transition – renewables, electric vehicles, green hydrogen, digitalisation – requires critical and strategic materials that are spread around the world.
Meeting with the EIB complaints mechanism and advocacy meetings with MEPs and the European Commission on the EIBs role in financing the European Green Deal
Event | May 3, 2023
On 3 May Counter Balance and several members and partners of their network participated in a meeting with a significant number of staff of the EIBs Complaints mechanism of the European Investment Bank at their office in Luxembourg.
Briefing for the EIB Board on the Budapest Airport expansion project
Publication | May 2, 2023
This briefing shows how this EIB-financed project continues to violate the fundamental rights of residents, which are enshrined by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
Joint civil society letter: Creating a truly Paris-aligned EIB
Publication | May 2, 2023
The Fossil Free EIB coalition wrote a joint letter to the European Investment Bank (EIB) to express its views on the upcoming review of the EIB Climate Bank Roadmap.
‘EU climate bank’ keeps back door open for fossil fuel giants
Blog entry | May 2, 2023
The European Investment Bank (EIB) made history with its decision to stop financing fossil fuel energy from 2022 onwards. By adopting the PATH Framework in October 2021, it seemed the EIB had finally set the conditions requiring its clients to disclose information on their corporate-level emissions, as well as decarbonisation plans. But a year later, it made a U-turn.
Stara Zagora: caught between its brown coal past and a bright green future
Blog entry | March 30, 2023
In February and March 2023, our environmental organisation Za Zemiata (Friends of the Earth – Bulgaria) organised several meetings in Stara Zagora and Galabovo in south-central Bulgaria dedicated to just energy transition and the development opportunities it offers the region. Our main aim was to involve local stakeholders whose voices have thus far been ignored. Participants included representatives of civil society, members of small and medium-sized enterprises and academics from Trakia University in Stara Zagora. Unfortunately, despite efforts to foster dialogue between business, civil society, academia and the institutions, the absence of the municipality, which was invited to attend the meetings, was notable.
Western Balkans: EUR 3.5 billion gas build-out poses economic, energy security risks and threatens green transition
Press release | March 30, 2023
Prague, Czech Republic – Plans for EUR 3.5 billion of new gas-fired power plants, pipelines, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in the Western Balkans would force countries to import far more gas than they have in the past, introducing economic and energy security risks into the region’s already challenging energy transition, finds new research from Global Energy Monitor and Bankwatch.
Environmental groups challenge backdoor dismantling of EU nature safeguards
Press release | March 9, 2023
CEE Bankwatch Network and ÖKOBÜRO have initiated legal action (1) to uphold EU environmental law and public consultation requirements when building renewable energy facilities. The groups argue that an emergency regulation adopted by the Council of the European Union in December 2022 breaches EU and international law.
Citizens’ Observatory for Green Deal Financing
Page | January 13, 2023
Background The NextGenerationEU recovery instrument, adopted in 2020, aims to create a healthier, greener, and more digital EU, where citizens can be part of the change. The instrument provides Member States with a total of EUR 806.9 billion, in additi
