Publications

The Georgian Ministry of Environment has commissioned an external review of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) of the Nenskra hydropower plant before issuing its ecological expertise opinion which is a prerequisite for a construction permit. This review indicates that the ESIA report for Nenskra fails to sufficiently define the area of influence, suggest project alternatives, assess the impacts on the local communities and evaluate the costs and benefits of the project for the Georgian society.

In 2013 Winstar Tunisia, a subsidiary of Serinus Energy, obtained a USD 60 million loan from the EBRD to develop four oil and gas fields in southern Tunisia. In March 2015, Bankwatch met with local authorities, civil society representatives and labour unions in the two southern provinces and identified a number of problematic aspects, most notably the lack of transparency and communication from the side of the company with local stakeholders.

Since 2011 the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has provided USD 210.5 million to three greenfield hydropower projects (HPP) in Georgia - Paravani, Dariali and Shuakhevi. Instead of bringing improvements on the ground and environmental standards that are on par with best international practice, the EBRD has, by funding these projects, simply justified the wrongdoings that were from the beginning apparent: the degradation of river ecosystems, corruption and threats to people.

The assessment below covers the hard coal fired Large Combustion Plants exceeding 300MWth included in the draft national emissions reduction plan submitted by Ukraine at the 36th Permanent High Level Group meeting of the Energy Community in Vienna.

In this letter 46 non-governmental organisations alarm European Union representatives involved in the decision-making at the EBRD and Euratom to the fact that Ukraine is pressing ahead with its plans to extend the life-time of its old nuclear reactors even though they are in breach of international law (Espoo Convention) and without proper impact assessments and despite UKraine's obligations under the loans provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Euratom.

This independent study reveals critical vulnerabilities in the 32 year old nuclear unit 1 in the South Ukraine nuclear power plant, whose lifetime was extended by 10 years in December 2013. The study shows the reactor pressure vessel in unit 1 has several dangerous vulnerabilities that could lead to the appearance of micro-cracks in the vessel's metal casing. The observed wear in a number of elements in the reactor vessel already exceeds tenfold tolerable levels.