Western Balkan governments are willing accomplices in Azerbaijan’s abuse of COP29. Will the EU act to defend climate integrity?
November 22, 2024
This year’s COP29 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku never looked like a serious attempt to tackle the global climate emergency. After all, its hosts plan to increase oil and gas production by a third over the next decade – hardly a sign of climate leadership.
Looking beyond the hype: Public funding of hydrogen in central and eastern Europe
October 31, 2024
This briefing analyses over-optimism about hydrogen’s role in the central and eastern European Member States – Hungary, Poland and Romania.
Cop29 host Azerbaijan set for major fossil gas expansion, report says
October 23, 2024
The new report, produced by Urgewald and CEE Bankwatch, found Azerbaijan was set to increase its gas production by a third in the next decade, with fossil fuel companies forecast to spend $41.4bn (£31.9bn) on the country’s gas fields.
Hooked on gas: CEE governments’ climate plans prescribe fossil gas addiction
July 16, 2024
During much of the past 13 months – the longest streak of record-breaking global temperatures – EU governments have been revising their climate strategies. Yet, instead of increasing ambition at a time of a climate emergency, as they have committed to do, policymakers in central and eastern Europe appear keen to sustain their countries’ addiction to fossil gas.
EU climate fund bankrolling dirty energy expansion
June 25, 2024
As global temperatures continue to soar and climate disasters hit the most vulnerable, the EU’s little-known Modernisation Fund is propping up unsustainable energy infrastructure.
Hooked on gas: Report on the status of national energy and climate plans in central and eastern Europe
June 20, 2024
This publication highlights the need for gas phase-out pathways and identifies shortcomings in the current draft NECPs of eight central and eastern European Member States.
Delays in Almaty CHP-2 gas project open new opportunities for a rethink
May 29, 2024
Supported by the EBRD, the conversion of Almaty’s coal heat and power plant CHP-2 to gas has been seriously delayed. This opens an opportunity for a rethink: Why is the EBRD continuing to support this project instead of funding a clean and potentially cheaper type of heating?
Amid a growing climate mess, a dash for Black Sea fossil gas
May 27, 2024
Plans to drill for fossil gas off the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria are being advanced by a subsidiary of Austrian energy giant OMV, threatening to slow down Europe’s energy transition.
EBRD approves EUR 98.6 loan for disputed fossil gas mega pipeline in North Macedonia
April 25, 2024
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) yesterday approved a EUR 98.6 million loan for a fossil gas pipeline that would allow North Macedonia to increase its gas consumption by three to six times compared to 2021, its highest-consuming year so far. (1)
The Modernisation Fund: An open door for fossil gas in Romania
March 26, 2024
The Modernisation Fund is supposed to channel revenues from the EU’s carbon market into the energy transition in central and eastern Europe. But it’s actually being used to further deepen the region’s dependence on fossil gas.
