Bankwatch

NGOs welcome enquiry by Paris prosecutor into financial crimes related to the VINCI CONCESSIONS RUSSIE SA Moscow-St. Petersburg motorway

October 4, 2013

Paris, 3 October 2013 - Todays announcement by the Paris Prosecutor to open a preliminary enquiry into financial crimes related to the construction of a motorway between Moscow and St. Petersburg [1] has been welcomed by NGOs Sherpa, Russie-Libertés, CEE Bankwatch Network, MOBO Princip, and members of Russian civil society, who lodged the complaint in June 2013.

Theme: Transport, Social & economic impacts

Tags: corruption, Khimki, Vinci, CEE, EU neighbourhood

Renewables funds must not go up in smoke

October 1, 2013

Source: Markus Trilling, ENDS Europe

The countdown to the release of the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is now on, and the outlook continues to be bleak, to say the least.

Institution: EU Funds

Poland could violate law with new power plants – EU climate chief

October 1, 2013

Source: Sophie Yeo, Responding to Climate Change

Poland could face further conflict with Brussels if it pushes ahead with two new power plant units, in violation of EU regulations -

Institution: EBRD

Theme: Energy & climate

Stop funding coal, green groups tell European Bank

October 1, 2013

Source: , Business Green

Coalition of 10 of the largest green NGOs want European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to phase out coal, nuclear and shale gas investments

Institution: EBRD

Theme: Energy & climate

Leading green NGOs in Europe tell the EBRD to step out of coal

September 30, 2013

Brussels – As the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development today closes the public consultation period on its upcoming energy strategy, a coalition of the ten largest environmental organisations working at the European level, the Green 10, is calling on the bank to phase out fossil fuels from its future lending, beginning with coal, and to rule out lending to risky energy sources, such as nuclear and shale gas.

Institution: EBRD

Theme: Energy & climate

Tags: EBRD, energypolicy, Balkans, Baltics, Caucasus, CEE, Central Asia, EU neighbourhood, Southern Mediterranean

In Georgia, dam builders do not welcome peoples' concerns

Statements and behaviour of Georgian authorities show their determination to go ahead with the construction of the huge Khudoni dam that would displace more than 2000 indigenious Svans, regardless of public protests. At the same time the project company's set-up raises questions about ulterior motives.

Tags: Georgia hydropower Khudoni local communities participation public hearing revolving door Svaneti tax havens Caucasus

Institution: World Bank Group

Theme: Energy & climate, Social & economic impacts

Comments on EBRD's draft energy strategy

Policy comments | September 24, 2013

Bankwatch's detailed comments on the draft energy sector strategy of the European Bank for Reconstruction suggests the introduction of an emissions performance standard at the level of 350 gCO2/kWh for the bank's fossil fuel lending. It also contains comments on other energy sources, carbon markets, energy systems, carbon capture and storage, nuclear safety, and in an additional annex it lays out sustainability criteria for hydropower development.

Institution: EBRD

Theme: Energy & climate

Summary of Bankwatch's comments on EBRD's draft energy strategy

Briefing | September 24, 2013

In our full comments on the draft energy sector strategy of the European Bank for Reconstruction Bankwatch suggests the introduction of an emissions performance standard at the level of 350 gCO2/kWh for the bank's fossil fuel lending. This document summarises the most important points made and a collection of most recommendations.

Institution: EBRD

Theme: Energy & climate

Kyrgyzstan: Kumtor and the Environment

September 23, 2013

Source: , eurasianet

Your article “Is Purported Extortion Video a Bid to Boost Foreign Investor Confidence?” tacitly suggests that protests against the environmental damage caused by the Kumtor gold mine in Kyrgyzstan are disingenuous and that no reliable reports evidence this damage, citing a leaked video as proof that the company is in fact a victim, rather than a culprit.

Institution: EBRD

Theme: Mining

Locals oppose mega-dam construction in Khaishi

September 23, 2013

Source: Nino Edilashvili , Georgia Today

A public debate over the fate of the Khudoni dam in Khaishi, a high mountainous region in west Georgia’s Svaneti region, remains tense. On September 17, as a public hearing on the issue was in progress, villagers in Khaishi turned out in significant numbers to the hearing to express their harsh opposition to the mega-dam project.

Institution: EBRD