From a grassroots to the international level …
We’re the largest network of grassroots, environmental and human rights groups in central and eastern Europe.
We monitor public finance institutions that are responsible for hundreds of billions of investments across the globe. The banks and funds we watch are often obscure but always important entities that function outside public scrutiny.
Together with local communities and other NGOs we work to expose their influence and provide a counterbalance to their unchecked power. We investigate the impacts of public finance, work with affected communities and local organisations across the world and help them protect their rights and livelihoods. We make sure their stories are being told in Europe’s power centers.
We regularly meet representatives of the institutions we monitor and we’re in Brussels, too, doing our bit to make Europe a fairer, cleaner and sustainable place.
Alternative news
We expose the risks of international public finance and bring critical updates from the ground.
We believe that the billions of public money should work for people and the environment.
CAMPAIGN AREAS
INSTITUTIONS WE MONITOR
OUR PROJECTS
After recovery towards cohesion
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.
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Komarnica hydropower plant, Montenegro
Planned by Montenegro’s state-owned electricity utility EPCG, the need for the Komarnica hydropower plant has never been proven.
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EU funds and biodiversity
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.
Read morePublications
Biodiversity on the brink: What’s holding back financing for nature in the EU?
Report | 7 February, 2023 | Download PDFThis report provides insights into a number of significant barriers at the national level to financing nature restoration and conservation measures, such as authorities’ lack of knowledge about what constitutes biodiversity, insufficient collaboration between actors and excessively restrictive funding criteria. It also includes recommendations for both the EU and national levels.
What is the current state of the just transition processes in Bulgaria?
Briefing | 30 January, 2023 | Download PDFThis briefing summarises just transition planning in Bulgaria thus far, reviewing the TJTPs’ compatibility with EU requirements and the overall process’s alignment with the partnership principle. It provides recommendations for improving just transition in the upcoming period.
Energy poverty in Latvia – from definition towards action
Briefing | 24 January, 2023 | Download PDFThis summary briefing reviews the state of energy poverty in Latvia, focusing on how this term is defined in Latvian law and practice and what programmes are in place to assist those struggling to pay for the energy they use.
Is Samarkand ready to become a Green City?
Briefing | 26 December, 2022 | Download PDFThis briefing reviews Samarkand’s existing urban development plans, the main environmental and social concerns of residents with a focus on public transport, and provides recommendations on including civil society in the GCAP planning.
Analysis of alternatives to coal-based district heating for the Bitola region in North Macedonia
Analysis | 21 December, 2022 | Download PDFThe study examines the current heating situation in the Bitola region (covering the municipalities of Bitola, Mogila and Novaci), followed by an analysis of the techno-economic potential for using decentralised heating solutions that are also in line with the country’s environmental protection commitments.
