Coal in the Balkans
The Western Balkans is becoming a region of contrasts. While North Macedonia has pledged to phase out coal by 2027, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina still plan new lignite power plants, despite pledging to phase out fossil fuels by 2050 as part of the
Read moreARCHIVED: Southern Gas Corridor
This system of mega-pipelines meant to bring gas from Azerbaijan to Europe, is unnecessary for Europe’s declining gas demand. But the billions in public investments will boost Azerbaijan’s dictatorial regime and cause upheaval for transit communities in Turkey, Greece, Albania and Italy.
Read moreNenskra hydropower plant, Georgia
The Nenskra dam is the largest of Georgia’s massive plans for hydropower installations in the Upper Svaneti region. If realized, it will deprive the local indigenous communities of their ancestral lands and traditional livelihoods, and cause an irreversible damage to the fragile river and mountain ecosystems.
Read moreEuropean Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI)
Tasked with stimulating the European economy, the new investment fund may just become an extention of the European Investment Bank’s normal lending with very limited additional (green) finance.
Read moreVolkswagen’s emissions scandal and the EU’s bank
With the spotlight bright on Volkswagen for cheating in emission tests, the EU’s house bank must now come forward and show exactly what it has done to ensure proper oversight over its loans to the company.
Read moreARCHIVED: Mombasa-Mariakani road project, Kenya
Locals affected by the road project are facing forceful eviction and have not been properly consulted or compensated. The project promoter reacts to criticism with intimidation.
Read moreARCHIVED: Olkaria geothermal development, Kenya
Financed by several development banks, geothermal installations have uprooted Maasai communities whose fundamental rights as an indigenous people have been ignored at first. The company has so far been slow and reluctant in addressing the Maasai’s complaints.
Read moreKhudoni hydropower plant, Georgia
While a mountain community will have to be forced to resettle for this mega-project, the opaque ownership and weak taxation mean that benefits for Georgia are highly doubtful.
Read morePljevlja II lignite power plant, Montenegro
CANCELLED: For several years the Montenegrin authorities planned a second unit at the Pljevlja lignite-fired power plant in the north of Montenegro, near the borders with Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. An existing plant has been operating there since 1982. In 2019 the authorities finally admitted the second unit would not be built.
Read moreTuzla 7 lignite power plant, Bosnia and Herzegovina
The 450 MW Tuzla 7 project has become an iconic example of the clash between Chinese-backed investments and EU standards in the Balkans. The lead contractor would be the China Gezhouba Group Co. and a financing deal was signed with the China ExIm Bank in November 2017. However, in December 2023, the Federation of BiH’s Prime Minister confirmed that the plant will not go ahead. The cancellation of the works contract is still pending, however.
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