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
What do the OKKO filling stations employees say about their employer?
Resume | 3 November, 2022 | Download PDFPetrol filling stations network OKKO, controlled by the Galnaftogaz JSC, is known throughout Ukraine. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) facilitated the expansion of this network having a long history of relations with Concern
Financial support for renewables in Latvia
Briefing | 28 October, 2022 | Download PDFThis briefing provides an overview of public funding and financial instruments for renewable energy source deployment in Latvia that have either already been launched or are planned to be launched in 2022, as well as provides insights on planned programmes that could help finance more renewables in the coming years.
Getting gas out of district heating in the Baltics
Briefing | 12 October, 2022 | Download PDFThis briefing reviews the district heating situation in the Baltics and the opportunities for decarbonising the systems in these countries. It highlights good examples in Tallinn, Estonia; Salaspils, Latvia; and Vilnius, Lithuania that can inspire other central and eastern European municipalities to switch to renewables.
Status of the Territorial Just Transition Plans in central and eastern Europe: October 2022 update
Briefing | 7 October, 2022 | Download PDFThis briefing, the sixth in our series on the Territorial Just Transition Plans (TJTPs), provides an overview of the progress on TJTPs in seven CEE countries: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. It focuses on t
Assessment of Programme Slovakia
Briefing | 4 October, 2022 | Download PDFThis briefing offers an analysis of Slovakia’s operational programme for 2021-2027 and recommendations regarding the potential for increasing the programme’s climate and environmental contributions.
