Blogs

Brussels may fine Bulgaria for its excessive air pollution. But living in Pernik, the most polluted town in Europe, remains a hazard to peoples’ health as the results of Bankwatch’s independent dust monitoring show.

Life is a living hell for families in Vreoci, Serbia, where lignite excavators have almost reached their houses. As the mine’s financier, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development must not allow Serbian state utility EPS to create a fait accompli that leaves locals with scraps and without home.

Today the Asian Development Bank started its annual meeting and one of the projects that we will be discussing with the bank’s management and Board of Directors is a loan for the 280 megawatt Nenskra hydropower plant in the Svaneti region of Georgia. The ADB is planning to provide a loan of USD 176.70 million and a Political Risk Guarantee over USD 100.00 million for Nenskra, with a total cost of the project of USD 930 million.

The use of international financial institutions to manage projects within the Green Climate Fund framework has been criticised as too far removed from communities and those affected by the investments. Recently approved projects, the biggest of them administered by the European Investment Bank confirm this view, despite willingness to include civil society.

This article first appeared on the Re:Common website.

It was the end of February and the scene is Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. During an official meeting, the Italian government was severely criticised for the considerable delays in the construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), part of the Southern Gas Corridor.

Eurelectric members have pledged to build no new coal power stations from 2020. So why do firms in Serbia and Bosnia still think they can make coal pay?

A Romanian coal mining region is writing history today as representatives from unions, the coal industry and environmental organisations are coming together for the first time to discuss their communities’ future – with a common goal in mind.

At least 9 new lignite power plants are being planned in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia, but according to our new report their feasibility studies do not take into account the effect of CO2 prices. As a result, when these countries join the EU, the plants will not be competitive anymore and will need to be closed down – just like the many coal power plants in Western Europe that are now being shut. The taxpayers in the Western Balkans will end up footing the bill.

This week, activists from across the world are meeting in Tbilisi to share their experiences of resisting hydropower projects and the money that supports them.