Blogs

In an open letter sent today to the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development 54 civil society organisations follow up from last weeks consultations on the bank's new energy sector strategy and ask the president to ensure that the EBRD addresses the challenges of climate change with the urgency it deserves. We reproduce the letter's content here.

“Poland will continue to back coal (…) The future of Polish energy is in brown and black coal, as well as shale gas,” said on Tuesday Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, speaking at an event of the extractive industry.

Land expropriation and corruption have been two recurring themes at the Kolubara mine. This week's arrests indicate that they are closely connected.

Demonstrations in Kiev have shown that road safety is not only for cars but also pedestrians and other traffic participants - a lesson that the Ukrainian road company still needs to learn and that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development should be teaching more actively.

With another public action, colleagues in Moscow are today bringing to a close a week that has seen the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development having to listen to a lot of uncomfortable truths.

The global campaign to make the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development restrict its coal lending may have found new allies in Nordic countries after their declaration yesterday to seize overseas coal investments.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development received a little surprise visit this week from 16 000 voices against coal.

Cohesion Policy decisions are heating up at national level while financial allocations for the period 2014-2020 have been published this week.

As part of the consultation on its energy sector strategy the EBRD next week hosts public meetings in Istanbul, Belgrade and Moscow to discuss with civil society from its countries of operation. While public pressure is increasing to end coal financing it is important to note that restrictions to carbon-intensive investments must be strictly and clearly defined in the strategy document if they are to improve the EBRD's climate impact. An article from Bankwatch's 2012 annual report (pdf) illustrates how a too flexible approach allows the EBRD to greenwash also very dirty investments.

On Monday Polish NGOs Client Earth, Workshop for all Beings, Greenpeace, WWF and local community group Eco-Kociewie petitioned the General Director of Environmental Protection to cancel the environmental impact assessment permit for the Polnoc Power Plant in northern Poland.