NGOs letter on the EIB’s review process of the Environmental and Social Sustainability Framework
June 24, 2021
This joint advocacy letter, endorsed by 35 environmental CSOs, urge the European Investment Bank (EIB) to ensure a meaningful public consultation process during the ongoing Bank’s Environmental and Social Sustainability Framework review. We call on Ban
Last call for EU bank to uphold UN treaty on transparency
May 19, 2021
For too long, transparency and public participation have been a low priority for the European Investment Bank (EIB). Now it appears the world’s largest international lender is even in breach of international environmental law on access to information and public participation.
A case study on the Beli Kamen and Komalj hydropower plants on the Crni Rzav and Ribnica Rivers in Serbia
April 22, 2021
The small hydropower plants Beli Kamen and Komalj are built on the Crni Rzav and Ribnica Rivers of the Drina basin in western Serbia. Both plants are interconnected, as they use water from the same intakes and were financed by the European Investment B
Tashlyk hydro pumped storage plant, Ukraine
April 7, 2021
On 12 May 2020, the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced that it is considering financing the completion of the Tashlyk hydro pumped storage plant (HPSP) project. The Ukrainian state-owned enterprise National Nuclear Energy Generating Company (Ener
Thirsty hydropower: misuse of drinking water pipelines has destroyed a river in Bulgaria
March 30, 2021
The Blagoevgradska Bistritsa hydropower cascade was planned to use only the drinking water of the town of Blagoevgrad. Eight years later, it has used more than double the water allowed, leaving the river ‘even without frogs’. Our latest report shows the need for more scrutiny of EIB and EBRD lending through intermediary banks.
Blagoevgradska Bistritsa hydropower cascade (Bulgaria)
March 30, 2021
The Blagoevgradska Bistritsa hydropower cascade in Bulgaria consists of eight small hydropower plants installed on pipelines that supply the town of Blagoevgrad with drinking water. The plants were developed by the private company Blagoevgradska Bistri
Demonstrators demand cleaner skies as Bulgaria presses on with incinerator
March 26, 2021
Close to one hundred people from Sofia and the industrial northern town of Devnya took to the streets of the capital in protest against incineration and the air pollution affecting both towns, where the government pushes ahead with false solutions to the EU’s circular economy agenda.
EU bank failing on transparency and openness, warns civil society
March 11, 2021
Brussels – The European Investment Bank (EIB) is a laggard among its lending peers in terms of the amount of information it provides about its activities, finds a new analysis.The 53 civil society groups behind this analysis — including CEE Bankwatch Network, Counter Balance, Client Earth and many more — are urging the Bank to be more open about the impacts of its financing.
Step into the light: transparency review at EU bank can end culture of secrecy
March 11, 2021
The European Investment Bank, one of the largest lenders globally, is currently working on a new transparency policy that will govern how and what information the bank makes public. As the EU’s house bank, the EIB must guarantee the right of all citizens to access information held by public bodies.
Joint CSO Submission on the Draft Revised Version of the EIB Transparency Policy
March 11, 2021
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is currently revising its transparency standards. Its proposal for a revised Transparency Policy (draft TP) is under public consultation until 12 March 2021. While we appreciate the EIB’s initiative to review its Tran