From a grassroots to the international level …
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.
FOCUS AREAS
INSTITUTIONS WE MONITOR
OUR PROJECTS
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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Ugljevik power plant, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Commissioned in 1985, the 300 MW coal power plant in Ugljevik, Bosnia and Herzegovina, has become famous for emitting more sulphur dioxide than all of Germany’s coal power plants in 2019.
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Pljevlja I power plant, Montenegro
The existing 225 MW Pljevlja thermal power plant in the north of Montenegro, near the borders with Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, has been operating since 1982. The plant was originally planned to comprise two units but the second one was never built. The plant, along with the extensive use of coal and wood for heating, has caused unbearably bad air quality in the town.
Read morePublications
The state of youth engagement in the implementation of the EU Just Transition Mechanism
Report | 6 May, 2022 | Download PDFThis report provides an overview of the political youth engagement activities for the development of Territorial Just Transition Plans of twelve EU Member States.
Energy communities: A brief explainer for managing authorities in central and eastern Europe
Briefing | 4 May, 2022 | Download PDFThis briefing from Bankwatch and REScoop.eu explains the concept of energy communities and their wide range of benefits. It gives an insight into how their development can be supported at the national and local levels and why Member States should make use of the variety of EU funding streams to support energy communities. It also highlights EU legal definitions and suggests concrete recommendations on how to support them and overcome existing challenges.
Just transition project implementation checklist
Checklist | 29 April, 2022 | Download PDFThe paper outlines what comes next after the preparation of the Territorial Just Transition Plans and their final approval by the European Commission. It takes a look not only at the actual planning and spending of the funds provided in accordance with the approved Plans, but also at the challenges faced by the regions and the level to which they are prepared to address them. The checklist provides an easy-to-use overview of what each region should have in place in order to make sure it reaches its professed goals along with a discussion of each issue, relevant examples and references to more detailed reports, documents or regulations concerning particular points.
EU ETS 101 A beginner’s guide to the EU’s Emissions Trading System
Guide | 27 April, 2022 | Download PDFThe guide is a product of the Life ETX project, led by Carbon Market Watch, and has received funding from the LIFE programme of the European Union.
How can the EIB and the EU financial mechanisms support the decarbonisation of district heating?: Exemplary cases in central and eastern Europe
Briefing | 27 April, 2022 | Download PDFThe heating and cooling sector accounts for half of the EU’s energy consumption, and both district heating and individual heating are still dominated by fossil fuels and inefficiently burned biomass. According to Eurostat data, only 22 per cent of heating and cooling is generated from renewable energy. Decarbonisation of this sector, through increasing its efficiency and use of renewable energy sources, is key to the success of the EU’s climate neutrality strategy.
