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Counter Balance

@counter-balance.bsky.social

2.2K followers 600 following 250 posts

A coalition of European NGOs challenging public banks like the European Investment Bank on climate and human rights. 🔗 Website: https://counter-balance.org/ 📰 Newsletter: http://bit.ly/486zZZs

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Counter Balance @counter-balance.bsky.social · Mar 4

Europe’s public finance is off track: The @eib.org props up “competitiveness,” the wealthy military complex & polluters’ “clean energy” projects—missing a green, just economy.

But what if we flipped the script? We ask @yanisvaroufakis.bsky.social on #EUWatchdogRadio 👉
bit.ly/41HAOod

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Counter Balance @counter-balance.bsky.social · 14h

🎤 Frank Vanaerschot:

The grants are a super important element for the development action of the EU. The development banks and the private sector de-risk approach can not replace it. It is necessary to combine different public investments that look for long term economic viability. 🏡🚉🌳

Reposted by Counter Balance

CONCORD @concord-europe.bsky.social · 17h

"We must build mutual partnerships: mobilising public money to prioritise local actors, based on local needs."

- Frank Vanaerschot @frankcb.bsky.social @counter-balance.bsky.social

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Counter Balance @counter-balance.bsky.social · 18h

💸 Hikma also highlighted the financial model that prioritises loans over grants:

Africa is borrowing money to build infrastructure that goes to Europe for it energy transition. It's an austerity dressed in green.

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Counter Balance @counter-balance.bsky.social · 18h

📣 Hikma Bachegour gave us a clear message:

The current EU approach tends to replicate a green neocolonialism approach. The local communities need projects that protect water, that create jobs, also for women. They need projects that assure technology transfer and capacity building.

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Counter Balance @counter-balance.bsky.social · 19h

🔴 Starting now | What are the real implications of the #GlobalGateway strategy❓

Today we'll discuss w/ civil society, affected communities & policymakers the impacts of #energy, mining, #climate & infrastructure projects on the ground.

Join via Zoom: bit.ly/4o5Uryp

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Counter Balance @counter-balance.bsky.social · 1d

🏦 @eib.org's “strong engagement” with civil society on the review of the Climate Bank Roadmap:

☀️ One consultation in mid-summer
📄 No draft shared
⏳ 2 weeks for feedback
🔗 Link to the roadmap delayed for days

Counter Balance @counter-balance.bsky.social · 1d

Reposted by Counter Balance

SOLIDAR & SOLIDAR Foundation @solidar-eu.bsky.social · 6d

🚨 Civil society needs a seat at the table in the EU's Global Gateway!

Ahead of the Global Gateway Forum, we've published an advocacy toolkit to equip CSOs to shape the future of Global Gateway so it reduces poverty and advances sustainable development.

Learn more ➡️ bit.ly/4nYS9RA

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Counter Balance @counter-balance.bsky.social · 6d

🌍 Yesterday we watched a powerful documentary on hydrogen in South Africa 🇿🇦. The truth is clear: local communities see no benefits, only big corporations profit. ⚠️

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Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) @corporateeurope.org · 7d

🇪🇺 wants to import 🔟 million tonnes of green hydrogen from the global south. These extractive projects will:

🛑 displace communities
🛑 overexploit water
🛑 undermine energy access

Join us tonight for a docu screening & discussion on the scramble for hydrogen in South Africa to learn more.

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Counter Balance @counter-balance.bsky.social · 7d

4)
❌ EU taxpayers cannot bankroll surveillance firms complicit in abuses, especially while Israel escalates repression & military violence against Palestinians.

Counter Balance @counter-balance.bsky.social · 7d

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⚠️This exposes the opaque investment chains and lack of transparency, governance & accountability in EU funding.

Counter Balance @counter-balance.bsky.social · 7d

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📱 Paragon’s “Graphite” spyware breaks into encrypted smartphones & has been used to spy on journalists, activists & civil society defenders.

Counter Balance @counter-balance.bsky.social · 7d

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🚨 A new investigation by @apache.be reveals that the European Investment Fund (EIF), part of the @eib.org, channelled 🇪🇺 public money into Paragon Solutions, an Israeli spyware company.

👇

European Investment Fund financed Israeli spyware company Paragon

Paragon's spyware has been used against activists by multiple governments.

apache.be

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Reposted by Counter Balance

recommon.org @recommon.org · 9d

📫 Insieme ad altre 18 organizzazioni della società civile e a sindacati abbiamo chiesto alla @EIB di mettere la giusta transizione al centro della sua nuova Roadmap della Banca per il clima (2026-2030).

👇
Per leggere il testo della lettera: counter-balance.org/uploads/file...

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Counter Balance @counter-balance.bsky.social · 9d

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It’s time to redirect public finance toward systems that serve people and the planet.🌍🌳

📝 Read the full blog by Clàudia Custodio from @observatoriodg.bsky.social

👉 counter-balance.org/news/the-gre...

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Counter Balance @counter-balance.bsky.social · 9d

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Meanwhile, real solutions, like public transport, shared mobility, and walkable cities, remain underfunded. 🟢🚈🚉

We should invest in mobility for all, not just in new ways to sell cars. ❌🚘

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Counter Balance @counter-balance.bsky.social · 9d

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These minerals are often extracted through destructive mining in communities that won’t even benefit from "green mobility". 🏭🩸

The result? Green extractivism funded by public money. 💸

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Counter Balance @counter-balance.bsky.social · 9d

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The push for mass EV production is driving a surge in demand for critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel, to sustain Europe’s consumption patterns.

Meanwhile, the EU, with just 6% of the world’s population, already consumes 25–30% of global metals. ⚠️🌍

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Counter Balance @counter-balance.bsky.social · 9d

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🚗💸 Governments are pumping public money into the electric vehicle (EV) industry, but is this the transition we need?

Clàudia Custodio from
@observatoriodg.bsky.social wrote a powerful blog on this topic in our website, check it out here: counter-balance.org/news/the-gre...

A thread 🧵

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Reposted by Counter Balance

Salud por Derecho @saludporderecho.bsky.social · 12d

Pedimos:
💸 Fin a las excepciones fósiles
🏦 Dinero público solo para empresas que descarbonicen de verdad
🏘️ Impulso al sector público: vivienda, energía y transporte sostenible
🌍 Más financiación justa fuera de la UE contra la pobreza energética
🔎 Transparencia en el uso de los fondos climáticos

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Salud por Derecho @saludporderecho.bsky.social · 12d

19 organizaciones de la sociedad civil y sindicatos pedimos al @eib.org que ponga la transición justa en el centro de su nueva Hoja de Ruta Climática (2026–2030).

Aquí nuestro posicionamiento @counter-balance.bsky.social 👇

saludporderecho.org/pedimos-al-b...

Pedimos al BEI más ambición climática y social en su nueva hoja de ruta

El Banco Europeo de Inversiones (BEI) está preparando la segunda fase de su Climate Bank Roadmap, la hoja de ruta climática que recoge su estrategia para el periodo 2026-2030. Esta

saludporderecho.org

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Counter Balance @counter-balance.bsky.social · 13d

@corporateeurope.org @rosaluxstiftung.bsky.social @attacdeutschland.bsky.social

Counter Balance @counter-balance.bsky.social · 13d

🗓️ On 1st October, from 19:00 - 20:30 – Film screening & discussion

Where? Mundo Matongé, Rue d’Edimbourg 26, 1050 Ixelles.

No registration needed. Drinks will be provided after the event, until they run out!

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Counter Balance @counter-balance.bsky.social · 13d

💡 The message is clear: the @eib.org must make the just transition the heart of Climate Bank Roadmap 2.0.

Read the full joint statement from 19 CSOs and labour unions here 👉 counter-balance.org/uploads/file...

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