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
Komarnica hydropower plant, Montenegro
Planned by Montenegro’s state-owned electricity utility EPCG, the need for the Komarnica hydropower plant has never been proven.
Read more
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.
Read more
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
Urban public transport reform in Tbilisi
Briefing | 29 September, 2022 | Download PDFThe briefing finds that none of Tbilisi’s proposed reforms have been completed, nor are they entirely consistent with the city’s goals, including prioritising pedestrians, enhancing mobility opportunities for the city’s residents and improving air quality.
Rebuilding cities for people in Ukraine
Briefing | 19 September, 2022 | Download PDFThis briefing describes Ukrainian cities’ efforts for green development before the war and their plans for green post-war reconstruction.
Is Hungary and Slovakia’s district heating future in hot water?
Briefing | 2 September, 2022 | Download PDFThis briefing, based on CEE Bankwatch Network’s fact-finding missions to Galanta and Veľký Meder, Slovakia and Szeged, Veresegyház, Hódmezővásárhely, Hungary in January and May 2022, presents examples of existing geothermal district heating systems in central and eastern Europe. It also makes recommendations to policy makers and financial institutions interested in implementing such systems in other parts of the region.
Suggestions for donor interventions to help the green post-war reconstruction of Ukraine
Briefing | 28 July, 2022 | Download PDFThis briefing gathers practical suggestions for consolidating international efforts around the idea of a sustainable post-war reconstruction of Ukraine.
Why hydropower in southeast Europe is a risky investment
Report | 27 July, 2022 | Download PDFHydropower, together with coal, has traditionally played a major role in the power systems of southeast Europe, with particularly high shares in Albania, Montenegro and Croatia. And today, southeast European governments, utilities and energy experts are keen to build even more hydropower.
