Resistance to the Balkan pipeline carve up is growing

The meeting organised by Croatian NGOs including Zagreb office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Human Rights Center and Eko Kvarner took place in Sisak, the most polluted town in Croatia, thanks in no small way to a local unrefurbished oil refinery and a crude oil fuelled thermo power plant. Experienced and new campaigners were joined by legal and marine experts, and the meeting resulted in the establishment of an informal network and concrete plans for strengthening current campaigns on pipeline projects. Bankwatch outlined the potential involvement of the IFIs in these projects and, based on our experience of the problems in previous such projects financed by the banks, showed that the IFIs’ safeguard standards are no match for the social and environmental dangers of oil pipelines and related infrastructure. Read the declaration here.