Energy insecurity: EU funds for fossil gas in Poland and Romania contradict climate goals
June 6, 2023
This report reveals how much EU public money has been channelled toward the expansion of fossil gas infrastructure in Poland and Romania since 2014 as well as what plans these two countries have for using various EU funding sources to finance additional fossil gas projects in coming years.
LNG rush threatens Baltic energy transition: why new LNG infrastructure is a false solution for energy security in the Baltics
March 14, 2023
As a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Baltic states and Finland, which had relied on Russia for fossil gas imports, now lack sufficient alternative infrastructure to cover regional demand. The main efforts to diversify gas sources and reduce regi
If you’re in a hole, stop digging: a case study on Hungary’s plans to revisit shale gas and on the environmental, social and health impacts of fracking
February 28, 2023
In 2022, Hungary announced an energy emergency and, to address the crisis, plans to increase domestic fossil gas production. A key part of these plans was to develop an unconventional fossil gas (‘shale gas’) field in Békés county (the Corvinus project
EBRD: Everything is peachy, just trust us!
February 17, 2023
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) appears keen to finance a major new pipeline to import fossil gas from Greece to North Macedonia, which would lock the country into increased fossil gas use for decades. Yet when the rationale for this is questioned, the EBRD fails to provide relevant data to justify its claims.
369 million euros of North Macedonia’s public money going up in smoke
January 30, 2023
North Macedonia’s government, through the state-owned energy production company AD ESM, has spent hundreds of millions of euros on imports of coal, heavy oil and fossil gas to keep the country’s fragile energy system going during the energy crisis. The result is a significant increase in emissions of air pollutants and serious damage to the environment and public health.
Romania U-turns on decarbonisation to expand a lignite mine in Gorj and wipe out 106 hectares of forest
January 13, 2023
The Romanian government is again acting contrary to its EU commitments.
REPowerEU deal is a blow to a more climate-oriented energy policy in central and eastern Europe
December 22, 2022
Six months after the proposal was put forward, a deal was struck by EU negotiators on the financial leg of the REPoweREU plan, the EU’s strategy to cope with the energy crisis and phase Russian fuels out of the market. National governments will be invited to quickly add new chapters to their recovery plans, which is potentially good news and a chance to further invest in the energy transition. However, Member States must avoid falling into the trap of fossil fuels, which are making a comeback in the palette of investments eligible for EU funds.
The EBRD must finally leave fossil fuels behind
December 6, 2022
No justification for more public money going to the fossil fuels industry, say dozens of central and eastern European civil society organisations. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development must urgently shift its investments to help accelerate the energy transition.
Is Hungary and Slovakia’s district heating future in hot water?
September 2, 2022
This briefing, based on CEE Bankwatch Network’s fact-finding missions to Galanta and Veľký Meder, Slovakia and Szeged, Veresegyház, Hódmezővásárhely, Hungary in January and May 2022, presents examples of existing geothermal district heating systems in central and eastern Europe. It also makes recommendations to policy makers and financial institutions interested in implementing such systems in other parts of the region.
It’s time to put an end to EU funding of fossil gas
June 27, 2022
While EU households and industry face months without heating, exorbitant energy bills and insecurity, EU funds are driving an increase in the demand for gas in the region, a Bankwatch analysis of Modernisation Fund spending shows.
