Funds for sustainable development

ekoprojekty.pl

The aim of this programme is to ensure that public funds allocations account for the principle of sustainable development. The programme’s activities focus on the European Union (EU) funds that are transferred to Poland under the Cohesion Policy (European Regional Development Fund, Cohesion Fund) and on the measures of international financial institutions (IFIs), such as the European Investment Bank (EIB) or the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), in Poland and globally. EU finance as well as EIB or EBRD loans play a significant role in shaping the development model of new EU member states, e.g. Poland, and the countries of the Global South. This is not only due to the large scale of such investments but also because of the impact of these financial projects on state policies or operation of respective state institutions.

The PGN monitors how the EU funds allocated for Poland within the Cohesion Policy are spent (€ 67 billion for 2007-2015), investigating environmental impacts of selected projects, the influence of these financial resources on the development of respective sectors (transport, energy, waste management, water management) and implementation of public participation rules and the partnership principle during related decision-making processes. We are also involved in the programming of subsequent budget periods of the Cohesion Policy, advocating for increased financing of energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, rail and urban transport, eco-innovations, nature conservation and others. We intervene if EU-financed projects violate national or Community environmental protection law, threatening e.g. environmentally valuable sites protected under the Natura 2000 network.

The PGN’s active participation in international federations and networks, especially CEE Bankwatch Network and SF Team for Sustainable Future makes the programme’s initiatives even more effective. This cooperation not only facilitates exchange of knowledge and experiences with NGOs from other countries in the EU, Eastern Europe or the Balkans but also fosters more effective relations with the European institutions (European Commission, European Parliament).

As far as EIB is concerned, we look into its sector policies (with focus on energy and transport), horizontal policies (e.g. transparency) as well as individual projects that are controversial due to environmental protection issues (e.g. investments in coal-based energy facilities in Poland). As EIB is currently the largest international financial institution in the world (€ 72 billion of loans granted in 2010), in cooperation with CEE Bankwatch Network, we conduct advocacy and education activities on the bank’s role in the countries of the Global South. By presenting socially and environmentally harmful projects that have received a loan from EIB we want to influence the bank’s policy so that such situations do not reoccur.

Together with SF Team for Sustainable Future and Polish NGO Federation, we analyse how the partnership principle is implemented in EU funds management and strengthen participation of NGO representatives in the monitoring committees established for respective operational programmes that define EU funds allocations in sectors and regions.

Promotion of good practices and projects that contribute to implementation of the sustainable development principle, with focus on initiatives conducted by NGOs or intersectoral partnerships, constitutes another important element of the programme. Since 2004, i.e. Poland’s accession to the EU, we have carried out several countrywide promotion campaigns, reaching our target groups through touring exhibitions, the internet database of good projects, seminars, workshops, publications and advisory centres. These campaigns were financed from the EU funds, under the Operational Programme Technical Assistance.
Within the project we manage and update a website on environmentally-friendly projects: www.ekoprojekty.pl.

The section below outlines the most important activities implemented in 2011.

• Preparation of a position on governmental plans to reallocate € 1,2 billion within the Cohesion Fund from rail to road transport. The position was presented to the members of the Monitoring Committee for the Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment. Preparation of press releases on this subject and contacting the media.
• Meetings with the European Commission regarding EU financing for the transport sector in Poland in 2007-2013; meetings with the Polish Members of the European Parliament regarding draft regulations on the EU funds in 2014-2020.
• Data collection and preparation of reports on financing for renewable energy sources and energy efficiency improvement in Poland (current state, needs, good practices).
• Preparation of information on Polish projects included on the map of controversial EU projects, published by CEE Bankwatch Network.
• Joint organisation and participation in debates (presentations on the future of EU funds in the context of the low-carbon economy and environmentally-friendly transport) organised inter alia by WWF Poland (Role of Polish Presidency and environmental aspects of the future financial perspective) and Aeris Futuro Foundation (Green priorities of the Polish Presidency in Practice).
• Coordination of the Coalition of Polish NGOs for EU Funds: organisation of meetings, management of the mailing list, preparation of information for the website: www.ekoprojekty.pl.
• Preparation of a position of the Coalition of Polish NGOs for EU Funds regarding Conclusions of the 5th Report on Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion and the future of the EU Cohesion Policy. The position was submitted to the European Commission.
• Participation in the work of the Monitoring Committee for the Regional Operational Programme in Mazowieckie Voivodship, the Consultation Committee for Transnational and Interregional Projects at the Ministry of Regional Development and the network Partnership: Environment for Development, established at the General Directorate for Environmental Protection. The latter body gathers regional institutions responsible for EU funds spending (Marshal Offices) and environmental protection (Regional Directorates for Environmental Protection) and was established to exchange information and experiences in effective and environmentally-friendly utilisation of EU funds.
• Organisation of an international conference (Warsaw, 24 May 2011) on various interpretations of energy security in the context of the Polish Presidency and its priorities (which included energy security). Over 100 people participated in the conference, including panellists from the European Commission and the Polish government (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economy) as well as representatives of the business sector and NGOs from different countries.
• Organisation of an international workshop for NGOs from the EU, former USSR and the Balkan countries on various ways of understanding of energy security and the issue of “energy theft” through its import to the EU countries (Warsaw, 25 May 2011).
• Activities that raise public awareness on EIB presence in the countries of the Global South and the resulting environmental and social impacts as well as on the influence of the extractive industry on the environment – including film showings and debates, preparation and distribution of leaflets.
• Participation in a meeting with EIB directors in Luxembourg (17 October 2011).
• Monitoring of planned investments in coal-fired energy facilities in Poland and IFI involvement in this sector.

Programme’s coordinator: Przemysław Kalinka, przemek@bankwatch.org

2011 activities within this programme were financially supported by CEE Bankwatch Network and C.S. Mott Foundation.