Following World Fish Migration Day, 150 NGOs have joined forces to call on the EU institutions to stop public funding of new hydropower projects in Europe. Building more hydropower is contrary to the biodiversity goals of the European Green Deal, as new power plants would only make a small contribution to the energy transition, weighted by the environmental damage they cause. NGOs call for public investment to be redirected towards upgrading existing plants, energy efficiency measures and less polluting renewable energy alternatives such as wind and solar power.

The mobilisation by NGOs comes a few months after new analysis showed that 93% of Europe's freshwater migratory fish have been lost since 1970, partly due to hydropower. While 91% of existing and planned plants in Europe are considered "small" - meaning they have a capacity of less than 10MW - and contribute little to the energy mix, their environmental impact is dramatic. If built, these plants will destroy Europe's last free-flowing rivers and further degrade increasingly fragile freshwater ecosystems.

The manifesto calls for:

• An end to EU subsidies for new hydropower plants of all sizes, including through regional policy and funds for projects of common interest.
• An end to the financing of all new hydropower plants in Europe by the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
• All new hydropower plants to be excluded from the list of renewable energies eligible for state aid.
• Public funding for new hydropower plants to be reallocated to ecological rehabilitation, dam removal projects, especially where dams are now obsolete, and other renewable energies such as wind and solar power.

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First published on 02.11.2020