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For the first time, the EU climate ambition is backed by an unprecedented financial package. The recovery and cohesion policy funds are planned to be two major components to accelerate the energy transition and reach towards climate neutrality by 2050. Bankwatch makes sure these EU funds support transformative and sustainable investments that advance energy consumption reduction, sustainable renewables and smart grids, ideally owned by communities.

The dispute over the rule of law between Poland’s government and the European Commission culminated in a recent announcement by EU officials to block funds for Poland. The country’s authorities must take the Commission’s reservations seriously and address them immediately. Meanwhile, they must start implementing investments planned in the cohesion policy programmes as soon as possible to better address the challenges posed by the climate and energy crises.

Planned by Montenegro’s state-owned electricity utility EPCG, the need for the Komarnica hydropower plant has never been proven.

On 1 February, representatives of Ukrainian and international civil society organisations sent an open letter to Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission. In the letter, they call on the European Union to support civil society engagement and the incorporation of green principles into Ukraine’s reconstruction process, which will go hand in hand with the country’s EU accession.

Nature is in crisis. 81 per cent of habitats in the EU are in ‘poor condition’, and without swift action this will only become worse. We need systemic and wide-reaching action and investments to tackle biodiversity loss and help restore nature before it is too late. The EU has pledged 120 billion of the EU budget to be earmarked for biodiversity by 2026, offering enormous potential to restore and protect nature, providing this is properly invested. We are therefore campaigning to ensure these public funds work for – not against – nature.

After years of community complaints about the environmental and social damage caused by Ukrainian agro-giant Myronivsky Hliboprodukt (MHP), independent investigators are now looking into the role of international public finance in contributing to those harms. Considering the current food crisis, Ukraine’s important role in the global food supply chain and the prospect of more international investments to prop up Ukraine’s economy, it is time for financiers to learn the lessons of their past mistakes.