Bankwatch

Investment priorities in the environment and climate change sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Briefing | October 2, 2014

The Bosnian NGO Center for Environment developed this position on the possibilities for investments in resource efficiency projects in the country.

Institution: EU Funds

Theme: Energy & climate

Six EU states cast doubt on proposed 2030 climate goals

October 1, 2014

Source: Sophie Yeo, RTCC

Central European countries reject renewables and efficiency goals as part of EU’s 2030 climate package

Theme: Energy & climate

Tags: CEE

Visegrad countries pose fresh threat to 2030 targets

October 1, 2014

Brussels – The group of four Visegrad countries (Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia) plus Romania and Bulgaria declared yesterday their readiness to block EU 2030 binding renewables and energy efficiency targets which are to be agreed upon at a European Council Oct. 23-24. Yet cracks are appearing in the group.

Institution: EU Funds

Theme: Energy & climate

Tags: 2030 targets, renewables, Visegrad, EU

Big EU energy projects cannot be chosen behind closed doors, say NGOs

September 29, 2014

Brussels -- As a new process of identifying big EU energy Projects of Common Interest (PCIs) kicks off in Brussels today, environmental NGOs warn that the EU must only prioritise energy projects which are not destructive of the environment and climate, and that the choice of these projects must be done through a transparent process.

Institution: EBRD, EIB

Theme: Energy & climate, Social & economic impacts

On Evgeny Vitishko, multilateral development banks and the criminalisation of public criticism

The recent rejection to release Evgeny Vitishko's, an imprisoned environmental activist in Russia, illustrates the backlash against fundamental rights and freedoms in some countries. Multilateral development banks need to take notice of this trend and be more wary of the risk that their lending may strengthen authoritarian regimes.

Tags: civil society democracy Environmental Watch on North Caucasus Evgeny Vitishko freedom human rights reprression Russia Sochi transition Caucasus Central Asia EU neighbourhood

Institution: EBRD, EIB, World Bank Group

Theme: Social & economic impacts

The rollback of transparency

September 25, 2014

Source: Xavier Sol, Ana Colovic, EUObserver

Transparency, once a 'conditio sine qua non' for democracy and good governance, is suffering a clear backlash in Europe.

Institution: EIB

Theme: Other harmful projects

Ukraine’s energy sector: badly in need of repair

September 25, 2014

Source: Karel Beckmann, Energy Post

Ukraine’s energy sector faces unprecedented challenges, from a reliance on expensive fossil-fuel imports to inefficient infrastructure and markets. But rather than viewing this as a vulnerability, Ukraine’s energy sector is potentially a low-hanging fruit for reform, notes a new report from the NGO CEE Bankwatch Network.

Theme: Energy & climate

Tags: EU neighbourhood

Balkans-Visegrad civil society exchange: case studies from internships

Briefing | September 24, 2014

A compilation of 4 case studies as a result of internships carried out in Visegrad countries - Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia - by Bankwatch member and partner organisations CEKOR (Serbia), Center for Environment (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and EDEN Center (Albania).

Will Ukrainian coal hijack today's Energy Community meeting?

Currently presiding over the EU-backed Energy Community's Minsterial Council, Ukraine will likely try to dilute environmental regulations in the Treaty. But the country's ageing coal-fired power plants are troubled by inefficiency and pollution and in dire need of environmental improvements.

Tags: Burshtyn coal derogations Dobrotvir energy Energy Community energy exports environmental aquis inefficiency pollution Ukraine CEE EU neighbourhood

Theme: Energy & climate

Energy Community meeting must deliver reforms

September 22, 2014

Brussels – A group of leading NGOs active in the Balkan region are calling for urgent reform of the Energy Community Treaty, as its Ministerial Council prepares to meet in Kiev on September 23rd. The groups are calling for both the expansion of the environmental and climate component of the Treaty and measures to ensure that existing obligations are better enforced.

Theme: Energy & climate

Tags: Energy Community, EU neighbourhood