Blogs

Herders in the Mongolian Gobi Altai mountains are facing pollution and displacement by an iron ore mine. The mining company Altain Khuder responds to criticism with intimidation. The financier, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, is not doing enough to protect herders’ rights.

The total costs of the Boskov Most hydropower plant project in Macedonia will possibly cost more than twice the projected EUR 84 million, considering that many aspects have so far not been studied or remain unresolved.

Despite the Russian invasion in Ukraine leading to EU and US sanctions against Moscow and major Russian energy companies, public banks supported by EU countries are just gearing up to offer a one billion dollar loan to Russian company Lukoil for gas extraction in Azerbaijan.

As the pilot phase of the EU Project Bonds Initiative is coming to an end, a roundtable discussion in the European Parliament takes stock of the initiative.

The low-carbon energy ambitions of Polish regions for future EU funding are very diverse with only a few promising cases as an analysis of the Operational Programmes of Polish regions shows.

With Ukraine’s ongoing fight for sovereignty and integrity emphasising once more the country’s energy vulnerability in front of Russia, the need to radically reform the Ukrainian energy sector became crucial for the survival of the country. And yet, moves in this direction are way too slow. Despite positive rhetoric on the need to prioritise energy efficiency, some European donors such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development continue with business as usual, spending huge resources on large infrastructure projects that do not address the country’s immediate need for improved energy security.

Repression against civil society is on the rise, as the latest alarming case from Montenegro shows.

As anti-coal movements are gaining momentum around the world, two new websites offer a slew of information about the dirtiest of fossil fuels and the campaigns against it. They also offer a stark reminder that despite progress in the last years coal is far from dead.

As Marubeni executive Hiroshi Tachigami attended today's Energy Market Conference in Zagreb this morning, Greenpeace activists hung a banner from the Vatroslav Lisinski concert hall in Zagreb, advising Marubeni to keep its hands off the Plomin C coal power plant project.

The European Investment Bank is gearing up for an increased role in spurring growth in Europe as set out by the new Juncker Commission. Yet as Europe’s 2030 climate targets are being undermined by some countries the bank that wants to be a leader in climate action must keep in mind that we can no longer afford growth without sustainability.