NGOs call to address the impacts of lignite mining on water in the Oder river basin
CCB • June 2, 2021
On June 8th, the International Commission for the Protection of the Oder River (ICPO) will meet to discuss the updates of the international River Basin Management Plan.
CCB, European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and partner NGOs are calling on the ICPO, the Ministries of Water and the Water Directors of the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland, to take the necessary measures to protect the river from the disruptive impacts of lignite mining, with a joint letter.
Key messages and facts
- The Oder river basin water status is far from good: less than 40% of the surface water bodies are in good chemical status, and not even 20% are in good ecological status
- The EU Water Framework Directive requires the river basin to reach good water status by 2027, but too many exemptions to polluters – including lignite mines – are jeopardising this objective
- The national and international River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) are a key opportunity to revert this trend, protect and restore the Oder waters and basin
- The impacts of lignite mining are tackled in the upcoming river basin management plans and strategies, with a special focus on:
- Preventing lignite mines pressure on water bodies
- Implementing the ‘polluter pays principle’ to hold polluters accountable
- Cutting pollution at source
- Stopping the abuse of exemptions
- Have your say in the public consultation on the Oder RBMP
Coalition Clean Baltic – CCB is a politically independent network, uniting 27 environmental non-profit organizations, as well as partners and experts from 11 countries surrounding the Baltic Sea. The main goal of CCB is to promote the protection and improvement of the environment and natural resources of the Baltic Sea region by encouraging new and constructive approaches and engaging people to become part of the solution instead of part of the problem. CCB Secretariat is based in Uppsala, Sweden.
European civil society organisations (CSOs) are currently facing an attack coming from certain Members of the European Parliament. Spearheaded by some MEPs from the European People’s Party (EPP) and by far-right groups, this attack resorts to misleading arguments to fabricate a scandal. This portrayal has been amplified through the media, with notable exceptions of articles that attempted to clarify this misleading narrative. European CSOs are crucial to ensure the voices of citizens from different parts of Europe are heard in the EU institutions. Attacks against civil society are unfortunately not new and are exacerbated by this harmful idea. Furthermore, for-profit corporate lobbying is through the roof when compared to non-profit advocacy. In 2024, the 50 corporations with the largest lobbying budgets collectively spent nearly €200 million on lobbying the EU alone (66% more than in 2015). Comparing this to the funding environmental NGOs receive under the LIFE programme - €15.6 million annually of a €700 million yearly budget - truly shows the weakness of this ‘scandal’. This is why over 570 civil society organisations from 40 countries, including all EU Member States, have joined forces to call on those in power to act now and ensure that civil society is adequately funded and enabled to share our crucial perspectives . In this statement, we address: The source of this false narrative; Inaccurate claims made about how CSOs obtain and use funding; Why it’s paramount that CSOs receive sufficient funding; The need for civil dialogue to enable CSOs participation. Democracy is about the right of citizens to be collectively heard for building an inclusive society and a shared European future; properly funded independent CSOs are a crucial tool for that. We call on decision-makers to ensure civil society organisations can thrive and play their role in interacting with policy-makers in order to have a more fully informed decision-making process. Read the full statement here . -END Civil Society Europe (CSE) is the coordination of civil society organisations at EU level. Through its membership, CSE unites EU-level membership-based organisations that reach out to millions of people active in or supported by not-for-profits and civil society organisations across the EU. CSE was created by several civil society organisations as a follow-up to the European Year of Citizens and was established as an international not-for-profit under Belgian law in 2016. Since then, it has become the point of reference for EU institutions on transversal issues concerning civil dialogue and civic space.