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Documents obtained by Bankwatch provide more details for a European Investment Bank statement that its loans to Volkswagen may have been connected to the car makers use of cheating devices to rig emission tests.

When Maroš Šefčovič, the Commission's Vice President for the Energy Union visited Bucharest in October 2015 to discuss Romania’s role in the overhaul of Europe's energy sector, his speech seemed promising at first. It focused on renewables, energy efficiency and research and innovation – all issues that are rarely on the Romanian public agenda. But eventually, much like the Commission's assessment for Romania (pdf) that was presented during the visit, the message and its level of ambition felt more like much ado about nothing.

No-one will 'freeze to death' if the planned lignite-fired power plant in Kosovo does not receive support from multilateral development banks, but if it does, low-income households may well end up choosing between electricity and food. How can an institution, whose very mission is to end poverty, justify this project?

With one more positive court decision just before the end of the year, Bankwatch Romania had a lot to celebrate in 2015.

Following Bankwatch’s revelations about toxic pollutants at the Tsumeb smelter in Namibia, the smelter’s owner, Canadian mining company Dundee Precious Metals (DPM), contested our findings in Namibian news reports. Without substantiating its claims with facts, however, and in light of the results of local health surveys the company’s reassurances ring hollow and meaningless.

The European Investment Bank's track record stands in stark contrast to its pose as a hero in the fight against climate change.

On 20 November 2015, following the presentation of the first State of the Energy Union, Vice-President Šefčovič hosted a Twitter Chat. Also several Bankwatchers joined the discussion. Here are some points we found noteworthy.

The critically endangered population of the Balkan lynx (Lynx lynx balcanicus) may be getting a new lease on life this week after being threatened by planned hydropower constructions in its core area of reproduction.

The case of the Tsumeb smelter in Namibia demonstrates how European pollution is exported to the Global South with indirect help of public development money.

A closer look at the projects that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has financed in the energy sector in Middle East and North African countries reveals that, despite the bank's rhetoric about promoting sustainable energy, its balance sheet has fossil fuels all over it.