Economic justice policy officer
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The Civic Alliance for the Protection of the Vlora Bay, a local Albanian initiative group, continued on Sunday to press for a referendum on an oil deposit and a thermo-power plant being constructed north of the town of Vlora on Albania’s Adriatic coast.
EBRD financed Tbilisi Public Transport Project
March 1, 2008 | Read more
Tbilisi, with a population of more than 1.5 million people, manifests all the signs of environmental stress – poor air quality, excessive noise, traffic congestion, loss of green areas and degradation of historical buildings and monuments. Road transport is responsible for an increasing share of total air emissions, their contribution rising from some 70 percent in 1991 to about 91 percent in 2005. In July 2005, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development lent EUR 3 million to the "Municipal Auto Transport Company Ltd".
The study illustrates the dangers that accompany large energy infrastructure projects whenever the interests of a major private company coincide not only with weak governance in the host country but also very clear willingness from financial institutions to provide funding, in spite of alarming project oversights and impacts. The study shows how goals to eradicate poverty and support local communities can be easily compromised when major corporations and/or political elites are intent on maximising profits.
