Balkans

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.

85 river and dam activists from 40 countries and all continents gather in Tbilisi, Georgia this week to share experiences about their efforts to protect the world’s rivers and join their struggles against destructive hydropower projects.

It is fitting that we use today to reflect on the European Investment Bank’s new Strategy on Gender Equality and Women's Economic Empowerment: 8 March is International Women’s Day. Adopted at the beginning of this year, the strategy complements the bank’s existing social policy and reflects the equality principle of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

This blog first appeared on Balkan Green Energy News

It was ten in the evening on 17 December when my colleague and I arrived in Pljevlja, Montenegro. Although we could feel the smell of burnt coal already while driving there, the minute we set foot out of the car, the air was stifling. “This place reminds me of childhood, it smells like in your grandparents’ house when the chimney was stuffed and all the smoke came inside. Only this is outside", he said, with a scarf pulled over his nose.

Although not an institution that typically receives much fanfare, the export credit agency (ECA) in the Czech Republic has a poor track record worthy of more scrutiny.

Once again people from Pljevlja in northern Montenegro have taken to the streets to protest against the awful pollution that has been plaguing the town for years.