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Energy Security for whom? For what?
February 28, 2012

A new report by The Corner House critically examines the notion of “energy security,” one of the buzzwords in European politics used to justify controversial infrastructure projects like the Nabucco gas pipeline or high voltage transmission lines in Ukraine. Here an introduction to the report from its authors.

EBRD
EIB
Energy & climate
Social & economic impacts
Central Asia, energy grab, energy security, EU neighbourhood, extractive industries, Global South, human rights, local impacts
Out of left field: A Kyrgyz inspiration for the EBRD
February 23, 2012

Following the publication of one official and one shadow report on the Kumtor gold mine, Kyrgyz authorities have responded to the calls of Bankwatch and other environmental groups to take a tougher stance on the Kumtor mining operations. The EBRD should follow their example.

EBRD
Social & economic impacts
Other harmful projects
Mining
Central Asia, communities, extractive industries, gold, local impacts, mining, policy, pollution, success, water
Earth's riches, people's troubles. Mining in Central Asia
January 31, 2012

Two new reports and two videos on the impacts of mining operations in Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia unearth some of the downsides of the mining business in Central Asia.

EBRD
Social & economic impacts
Other harmful projects
Mining
accountability, Central Asia, corporate responsibility, local impacts, mining, pollution, water
Video: Spirited away - Mongolia's mining boom and the people that development left behind
January 27, 2012

Earlier this week we published an overview of two Central Asian mining projects financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development - the Kumtor gold mine in Kyrgyzstan and the Ukhaa Khudag coal mine in Mongolia's south Gobi desert, which is part of the much larger - in fact the world's largest - coal deposit at Tavan Tolgoi.

EBRD
Mining
Central Asia, communities, mining, resettlement, video
Rushing into gold can leave people behind, EBRD
January 25, 2012

A look at mining projects in Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia reveal a need to carefully revise the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s involvement in the exploitation of natural resources.

EBRD
Social & economic impacts
boom, communities, copper, gold, Kyrgyzstan, local benefits, mining, Mongolia, natural resources, resource curse
Tragedy or comedy, what is the Nabucco pipeline really?
January 19, 2012

The announcement of German energy giant RWE to reconsider its plans for the Nabucco pipeline is just the last in a series of confusingly conflicting signals regarding the fate of this gargantuan project.

EBRD
EIB
World Bank Group
Energy & climate
Social & economic impacts
Other harmful projects
Balkans, Caucasus, CEE, Central Asia, climate targets, democracy, energy security, fossil fuels, gas, human rights, infrastructure, pipeline
Deja vu for Vienna II – a sustainable recovery is needed for the CEE financial sector
January 16, 2012

As pressures mount on western European banks to shore up capital ratios and with 2012 economic growth forecasts for Europe falling close to zero, officials from the European Central Bank, the European Commission, and several international financial institutions (IFIs) are meeting today in Vienna with regulators from CEE countries to discuss a second round of financial support for a fragile CEE banking sector.

EBRD
EIB
Social & economic impacts
banks, CEE, credit crunch, crisis, economics, eurozone, global loans, SMEs
An EBRD interpretation of biodiversity protection in the western Balkans
November 14, 2011

With potentially devastating impacts on natural habitats, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has so far offered no real commitment to environmental protection in its ambiguous decisions on two hydropower plants in Croatia and Macedonia.

EBRD
Other harmful projects
Balkans, biodiversity, Boskov Most, hydro power, Ombla
Ombla hydropower plant: public money down the sinkhole
November 14, 2011

Today Bankwatch member group Zelena akcija/Friends of the Earth - Croatia held an action today outside the offices of the EBRD in Zagreb, calling on the bank not to approve a planned loan of up to EUR 123 million for the Ombla hydropower plant project. You can see some images from the demo here.

EBRD
Energy & climate
Social & economic impacts
Balkans, biodiversity, hydro power, Ombla
The recap on recapitalisation
November 11, 2011

As the eurozone crisis continues to unfold, lending from international financial institutions to the banking sector must be held to the task of supporting the most vulnerable - especially the SMEs in CEE - or it will continue to perform largely unsuccessful and unchecked as it has during the crisis to date.

EBRD
EIB
World Bank Group
Social & economic impacts
financial intermediaries, financial markets, global loans, SMEs

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