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For European public finance, where will all roads lead from Paris?
April 22, 2016
 | by Fidanka McGrath (EBRD policy officer), Anna Roggenbuck (EIB policy officer) and Markus Trilling (EU funds policy offer)

Signing the Paris Agreement is an important step in Europe's contribution to the global effort to tackle the climate crisis.

But funding this commitment necessarily passes through the public coffers. To kick-start the much-needed energy transition– by swiftly cutting emissions to reach the global carbon neutrality the Paris Agreement prescribes for the second half of this century –a change of paradigm in public investments in energy infrastructure is needed.

EU Funds, EBRD, EIB
Energy & climate
Europe's Keystone XL: Planned gas pipeline is reckless
April 15, 2016
 | by Anna Roggenbuck

The Southern Gas Corridor risks locking in higher fossil fuel dependence and wasting colossal amounts of public money.

climate, climate targets, Energy Union, fossil fuels, gas, Southern Gas Corridor, stranded assets
EBRD, EIB
Energy & climate, Social & economic impacts
Aid Transparency Index: improvements for Europe's multilateral development banks but still a long way to go
April 13, 2016
 | by Fidanka Bacheva McGrath & Adriana Paradiso

As the 2016 Aid Transparency Review shows some improvement for the two main European lenders, they are still far from reaching satisfying transparency standards.

accountability, aid effectiveness, aid transparency index, development finance, Publish What You Fund, transparency
EBRD, EIB
Development
Romanian city battles in court to protect its citizens' health
April 5, 2016
 | by Ana-Maria Seman

The Romanian city of Reghin wants its citizens to agree before a potentially harmful formaldehyde plant is built. It has to defend this decision in court.

formaldehyde, Kastamonu, pollution, protests
Social & economic impacts
Ukraine needs European values and Europe's solidarity
April 4, 2016
 | by Olexi Pasyuk

Ahead of a referendum in the Netherlands on the association agreement between the European Union and Ukraine, Olexi Pasyuk from the National Ecological Centre of Ukraine discusses the agreement’s importance for Ukraine’s civil society and why Europe must still improve how it engages with the country.

association agreement, civil society, democracy, EU, Euromaidan, nuclear safety, Ukraine
EBRD
Energy & climate, Social & economic impacts
New agreement for Georgian Khudoni dam signals expropriations and tariff hike
March 31, 2016
 | by Klara Sikorova

After hitting a snag, the Khudoni dam in Georgia’s mountains is back in the game threatening to expropriate private lands and to bump up electricity prices for Georgian consumers. The controversial changes in an amended contract have inflamed the passion of the Svans who have for years tried to protect their communities from flooding.

dams, Khaishi, Khudoni, land rights, protest, resettlement, Svaneti, Svans, Trans Electrica
World Bank Group
Energy & climate, Social & economic impacts
Six arrested in suspected corruption around EBRD-financed Zagreb wastewater PPP
March 29, 2016
 | by Pippa Gallop

The Zagreb wastewater plant public-private partnership (PPP), financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), has for years been highlighted by Bankwatch and its member group Zelena akcija/Friends of the Earth Croatia as a harmful project allowing the private sector enormous profits at the expense of the City of Zagreb and the public.

arrest, corruption, CUPOVZ, investigation, Marina Matulović Dropulić, Milan Bandic, PPP, public-private partnerships, wastewater, Zagreb
EBRD
Social & economic impacts
[Campaign update] Romanian government sued over unlawful expropriation of mining community
March 24, 2016
 | by Alexandru Mustata

After decades of putting up with noise and dust, people in Runcurel, Romania are being told they are in the way of national interest. Together with the two civil society organisations, land owners are challenging the government's decision and the coal company's actions.

coal, Oltenia Energy Complex, photo story, Runcurel
Energy & climate, Social & economic impacts
The hefty health toll of coal burning in the Western Balkans - and what is not being done about it
March 16, 2016
 | by Ioana Ciuta

While the Energy Community yesterday failed to consider more stringent air pollution rules for the Western Balkans, a new report quantifies the health costs of the region’s coal burning both within the region itself as well as in the neighbouring European Union.

air pollution, air quality, coal, emissions, Energy Community, particulate matter, Pljevlja, Ugljevik
EU Funds, EBRD, EIB
Energy & climate, Social & economic impacts
Tensions are rising over hydropower and the lack of participation in Georgia's mountains
March 15, 2016
 | by Kadri Green

The mistrust and frustration of communities in the mountains of north-western Georgia is deepening over make-shift consultations on large dam constructions.

Chuberi, dams, hydropower, Khudoni, land rights, Nenskra, protests, RiversUniteUs, Svaneti, Svans
EBRD, EIB, ADB
Social & economic impacts

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