Southern Gas Corridor

Will energy efficiency be sidelined in the Energy Union's implementation?

EU energy ministers are meeting in Brussels today to discuss the implementation of the Energy Union. Looking at what has been discussed so far, the strategy may not prioritise energy efficiency enough to help Europe become climate-friendly.

Tags: energy efficiency energy security Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič natural gas Southern Gas Corridor EU

Institution: EU Funds, EIB

Theme: Energy & climate, Social & economic impacts, Development

Europe's Caspian gas dreams - a nightmare come true for human rights in Azerbaijan

As investors and officials are promoting a gas pipeline project from the Caspian Sea to Italy, the systematic repression of human rights in Azerbaijan is hardly on the official agenda. The Aliyev regime’s weakly veiled attempts to muzzle dissent illustrate how even the most repressive governments are acceptable partners for Europe’s pet energy projects.

Tags: energy Energy Union human rights Intigam Aliyev Khadija Ismayilova Leyla Yunus natural gas Rasul Jafarov repression Shah Deniz Southern Gas Corridor Caucasus EU neighbourhood

Institution: EBRD

Theme: Energy & climate, Social & economic impacts, Development

Repression and carbon lock-in required for security and sustainability?

Bankwatch Mail | May 14, 2015

With construction of the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) in Turkey getting under way, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) consortium awarding contracts for the construction of access infrastructure in Albania, and Russian pipeline plans lagging behind, the Southern Corridor for Azerbaijan's gas exports to Europe is increasingly looking like a done deal. Or at least that is what the project promoters would have us believe.

Institution: EBRD

Theme: Energy & climate, Social & economic impacts, Development

Infographic: If energy security is the question ... the Euro-Caspian Mega Pipeline is not the answer

Leaflet | April 29, 2015

Europe talks of diversifying energy supplies from Russia by building a set of pipelines from the shores of Azerbaijan's Caspian Sea to Italy. But the EU's dependency on Azerbaijan for fossil energy fuels repression and feeds the authoritarian Aliyev regime. All the while, Europe does not need all that gas.

Institution: EBRD, EIB

Theme: Energy & climate, Development

Jailing of prominent human rights activists in Azerbaijan casts a shadow over Europe's planned gas deals with the Aliyev regime

April 24, 2015

London, Prague -- Azerbaijan's authoritarian regime has been intensifying its crackdown on civil society with the recent jailing of two leading human rights defenders. The Aliyev regime has gained much of its political and financial clout by siphoning off proceedings from the country's vast oil and gas reserves. These are the same reserves that the EU is now planning to make its next big source of gas, and the same government that the EU still considers a legitimate partner.

Institution: EBRD

Theme: Energy & climate, Social & economic impacts, Development

Tags: Azerbaijan, Intigam Aliyev, Lukoil, Rasul Jafarov, Shah Deniz, Southern Gas Corridor, Caucasus, EU neighbourhood

Letter to European Commission: Request for information on EIB's involvement in the Transadriatic Pipeline (TAP)

Advocacy letter | April 9, 2015

Given the size of the Southern Gas Corridor project it is important that its effects on the environment and especially nearby Natura 2000 sites are duely accessed and that the necessary time to conduct public consultation both in the EU-28 countries and outside of the EU-28 as indicated to the Commission during various meetings related to the second list of PCIs preparation.

Institution: EIB

Theme: Energy & climate, Development

EU priority gas pipeline faces fierce opposition in Italy

The European Investment Bank recently confirmed plans to finance the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline from Greece via Albania to Italy. Yet a coalition of local mayors will do whatever it takes to stop the project.

Tags: Apulia Counter Balance Lecce natural gas PCI Southern Gas Corridor EU EU neighbourhood

Institution: EBRD, EIB

Theme: Energy & climate, Social & economic impacts, Development

Natural gas left, right and centre at Energy Union conference in Riga

Massive infrastructure for transporting natural gas is shaping up to be a centre piece of the Energy Union put forward by the Juncker Commission. This was also the impression Bankwatch campaigners had at an Energy Union conference in Riga last week.

Tags: Canete energy Energy Union infrastructure natural gas Riga Southern Gas Corridor EU EU neighbourhood

Institution: EBRD, EIB

Theme: Energy & climate, Other harmful projects, Development

Pipe dreams - why public subsidies for Lukoil in Azerbaijan will not reduce EU dependency on Russia

Study | January 21, 2015

The study explains why the Southern Gas Corridor, the EU’s new pet energy project, is not only unnecessary in light of gas demand projections, but also seems likely to fall short on the much flaunted goal of bringing energy independence from Russia.

Institution: EBRD, ADB

Theme: Energy & climate, Social & economic impacts, Development

Proposed Lukoil EBRD loan - for whose benefit?

Briefing | December 22, 2014

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 gearing up to offer almost a billion dollars in financial support to Russian company Lukoil for gas extraction in Azerbaijan.

Institution: EBRD, EIB

Theme: Energy & climate, Social & economic impacts