Europe’s unequal partnerships – a sad tale about energy
June 25, 2012
A too strong focus on energy security is steering Europe’s engagement with neighbouring states in a troublesome direction for the partnering countries.
3:1 against Ombla, Croatia must stop gung-ho investment
June 20, 2012
3 out of 4 experts gave a negative opinion on the environmental study of the Ombla hydropower plant. Now the Croatian government must heed their warnings and stop the project.
Hydro power plants endanger the Balkan lynx in Macedonia
June 5, 2012
A fact-finding mission to Macedonia has confirmed our concerns that two planned hydro power plants are set to destroy important natural habitats in the Mavrovo National Park.
Mining in protected areas, an update on Kumtor and Centerra Gold
March 28, 2012
Centerra Gold is being criticised for its activities in protected areas at the Kumtor gold mine and at another project in Mongolia. More lessons to be learnt for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Corporate largesse meets scepticism at World Water Forum
March 21, 2012
Criticism and protests around the World Water Forum have highlighted the risk of hydropower projects being greenwashed and the dangers these installations can pose to people and nature in many countries.
The European Commission, an EBRD shareholder that should start acting like one
March 1, 2012
Recent Balkan hydro projects suggest the European Commission could make much better use of its shareholder role in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
An EBRD interpretation of biodiversity protection in the western Balkans
November 14, 2011
With potentially devastating impacts on natural habitats, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has so far offered no real commitment to environmental protection in its ambiguous decisions on two hydropower plants in Croatia and Macedonia.
Ombla hydropower plant: public money down the sinkhole
November 14, 2011
Today Bankwatch member group Zelena akcija/Friends of the Earth – Croatia held an action today outside the offices of the EBRD in Zagreb, calling on the bank not to approve a planned loan of up to EUR 123 million for the Ombla hydropower plant project. You can see some images from the demo here.
Hydropower vs. nature in southeast Europe: EBRD complicity in environmental crime?
October 31, 2011
Why is it that when we advocate for something to the international financial institutions (IFIs) they often manage to give it a peculiar twist of their own?
Did the glimmer of gold blind the EBRD?
October 11, 2011
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has become a stakeholder in a company that is involved in gold mining in a UNESCO World Heritage site in Russia. Not only does this violate its own Environmental and Social Policy, but it also tells me a lot about the bank’s assessment of partner companies.