CEE Bankwatch Network's Media

EBRD-financed gold mining in Kapan, Armenia

CEE Bankwatch Network — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:39:58 -0800

In 2005 the EBRD provided four and half million euros to the Dundee Precious Metals company for environmental improvements at its Deno Gold Mine in Kapan, Armenia.
Inhabitants of nearby villages complain about toxic dust and health problems.
For more information: http://www.bankwatch.org/publications/papers.shtml?x=2213425

Towards a carbon-free cohesion policy - part 1

CEE Bankwatch Network — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:27:36 -0800

Final panel of the conference "Climate Proofing EU Structural and Cohesion Funds" (November 17, 2009) organized by Friends of the Earth - Europe and CEE Bankwatch Network and hosted by the Group of Greens/EFA. Speakers include Danuta Hubner, EPP and Elisabeth Schroedter, Group of the Greens /EFA.
For more information: http://www.bankwatch.org/meetings/climate_proofing_eufunds/

Change the lending, not the climate!

CEE Bankwatch Network — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:21:22 -0800

In December last year, Bankwatch launched its new report on the European Investment Bank's energy portfolio. Here the report's authors discuss their findings and place the EIB's energy lending in the context of the EU's efforts to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the fight against climate change.
For more information, see the website dedicated to the EIB's energy portfolio under www.fossilfreeeib.org

EBRD - lost in transition

CEE Bankwatch Network — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:44:22 -0800

Bankwatch expects a largely business as usual approach from the EBRD on Monday, November 2, when it publishes its 2009 Transition Report, accompanied by rhetoric about learning lessons from the economic crisis while completely lacking any explanation of what the bank is now doing differently.
Here we take a look at one case of the Bank's transition impact and see some of the asymmetries in EBRD justification and the reality on the ground.
**CORRECTION** - the video says that the EBRD 'provided 8 million euros' for the project. Rather the bank has approved the project, so the loan has not yet been disbursed.

Min(d)ing its own business: the EIB approach to exploitation

CEE Bankwatch Network — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:33:50 -0700

How does the mining sector work in Africa? Our friends at Counter Balance (http://counterbalance-eib.org) have produced another cartoon in their series on the EIB in the Global South, this time about the impacts of resource extraction in developing countries.

Where does climate change fit into the EU and G20 agendas?

CEE Bankwatch Network — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:27:35 -0700

Bankwatch's international climate coordinator Katerina Husova highlights some of the main topics from the recent EU heads of state summit in March and outlines what key issues regarding climate change are on the table for the G20 meetings in London. Follow Katerina as she provides timely updates from the UN climate change negotiations in Bonn at http://www.twitter.com/climatetalk

On a wing and a prayer: a bird's eye view of dams

CEE Bankwatch Network — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:53:39 -0700

Ahead of The International Day of Action for Rivers on March 14 that opens this year's alternative World Water Forum in Istanbul, Counter Balance presents some of the bird-brain thinking that accompanies the construction of big dams in the developing world.

Latvian woes should not pave the way for economic stimulus by any means necessary

CEE Bankwatch Network — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:45:01 -0700

Recent news of its governments collapse is further evidence of hardships that Latvia faces as the global economic crisis deepens within the country. As growth forecasts for 2009 continue to decline and levels of unemployment rise, Latvian national coordinator Alda Ozola speaks here about the alarming at all costs measures the country is proposing to satisfy requirements for economic stimulus from international donors like the International Monetary Fund and European Union.
Highlighting moves like the increased value-added tax on renewable energy sources while cutting the tax rate for imported natural gas, Ozola expresses concern that the soon-to-be released economic stimulus plan will neither be opened to proper public scrutiny nor will the plan work towards maximizing the potential for sustainable energy futures in Latvia.

One BIG PIG goes to market: a cautionary tale

CEE Bankwatch Network — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:41:10 -0700

A comic look at the basics of the European Investment Bank, the world's biggest public financial institution. More information about what the EIB does in practice is available on the Counter Balance website: http://www.counterbalance-eib.org

Cohesion in Crisis - fast or smart?

CEE Bankwatch Network — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:58:14 -0700

CEE Bankwatch Network and Friends of the Earth Europe EU Funds coordinator Keti Medarova-Bergström warns us that environmentally destructive and economically unsound projects, at a total cost of EUR 23 billion, in the ten new member states of central and eastern Europe, may receive an un-smart green light as the European Union seeks to rapidly deploy billions of euros to offset the worsening economic crisis.
Find out more at: http://www.bankwatch.org/billions/