Supported projects

PARIS – Billed by the fossil fuel industry as a climate solution, dozens of planned blue hydrogen projects in Europe could consume more natural gas than a country like France, and produce emissions on a par with Denmark. These findings raise new questions over blue hydrogen’s climate impact at a ...

BUCHAREST / PAZARDZHIK —  The green transition is not necessarily a clean one. The European frenzy for green energy projects, and the massive funds assigned for this process generated a chaotic battle for agricultural lands in Romania and Bulgaria, countries particularly vulnerable to corruption ...

EU / AFRICA / MENA – Five European oil and gas majors rank among the top 10 largest polluters in Africa and the Middle East when it comes to gas flaring, reveals this investigative series. These companies include Shell, BP, ENI, TotalEnergies and Perenco, as revealed by the Environmental ...

BAKU – Under the pretext of reducing reliance on Russian gas, Italy and the European Union have planned to double gas imports from Azerbaijan since 2022, even as dictator Ilham Aliyev tightens his authoritarian grip and increases investments in fossil fuels.

KATOWICE / KARVINÁ - This cross-border research project compares the energy transition in Silesia and Karviná, the coal regions on the Czech-Polish border, with a focus on the implementation of the EU's Just Transition Fund.

ÚSTI NAD LABEM / LANDAU - The 'lithium fever' has devastated the landscape in Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, among others. Europe is trying to mine its own lithium deposits in an environmentally friendly way: using geothermal energy. Germany is already experimenting with it in the Upper Rhine Valley ...

BERLIN - This project aimed to educate and connect investigative journalists in Germany and Europe.

BERLIN – Twenty European journalists took a week-long training programme to gain a practical understanding of the tools and insights needed to report on climate neutrality and the energy transition. The Summer Academy, organised by Clean Energy Wire (CLEW) — which has covered all aspects of energy ...

KATOWICE – This investigation looks at challenges and solutions of methane emissions reduction in Europe. Is it feasible, for example, to replace coking coal, a critical yet hard-to-replace resource for the steel industry? 

LONDON / BERLIN – This investigation reveals how oil and gas equipment intended to reduce methane is hiding pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from researchers. And while flaring is said to be decreasing globally, in many cases, it hadn’t stopped at all.

SVETI NICOLE / ELBASAN – Could a waste management facility become New Chernobyl? Some people in North Macedonia are eager to believe this. This investigation looked into facts and disinformation surrounding waste management project in Western Balkans.

CAIRO / TUNIS / ALGIERS - This investigation shows how – as countries in MENA are seeking to boost gas production to meet European gas demand – they are allowing fracking to take place in fields in order to maximise production. Fracking often takes place near villages and farmland, and threatens the ...

BUCHAREST - For almost 9 years, Romania has been criticised and monitored by the European Commission for allowing the large-scale destruction of several mountain rivers for the purpose of building micro-hydropower plants, without complying with the Water Framework and Habitats Directives.

PAMPLONA / LISBON / BRUSSELS — Energy communities are a clean and democratic alternative entering the complex energy market. Through this model, citizens can take back the means of energy production. This investigation looks into whether the citizen-led initiatives can fit into the market on par ...

LONDON – With Europe reeling from heat waves and wildfires, the EU is backing projects to capture industrial emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a key pillar in its fight against climate change. But what if these multi-billion-euro schemes make the problem worse?

SIEGBURG — It is now four years since the EU's Clean Energy for All Europeans package had been adopted. How much progress has been made since then on the national levels? This project looks at Croatia, Germany, Poland, Greece, and Bulgaria.

ACCRA – Low-quality petrol and diesel are a major problem for air quality in West Africa. They contain toxic substances such as sulfur and the carcinogenic benzene. When they break down, cars emit even more toxic exhaust fumes over densely populated cities.

ELSDORF – 2030 marks the end of lignite mining in the Rhenish mining area. But what happens to the Garzweiler, Hambach and Inden opencast mines once the excavators have been dismantled? Turning the brown coal holes into a lake district sounds easier than it is.

GEORGETOWN - This investigation offers a deep dive into the financial tricks ExxonMobil employs to turn Guyana into its perfect oil province.

SARAJEVO - This investigation explores the damages caused to nature and small rural communities by the construction of the small hydropower plants and their access roads, and what drove investors, especially foreign ones, to seek opportunities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

PARIS - The "Perenco System" international investigation coordinated by the Environmental Investigative Forum (EIF) in partnership with Mediapart, InfoCongo, InfoAmazonia and Convoca documents the systemic ecological impact of Perenco worldwide.

OXFORD – Fuelling academia: OpenDemocracy and Investigate Europe find that Europe’s leading universities have received at least €260 million from fossil fuel giants and taken advice on degree curricullae.

KEBILI - This projects looked into the significant social and environmental consequences Tunisia bears due to extractive industries of Serinus Energy.

EL CERREJÓN — The largest open pit coal mine in the world lies in Colombia. Health damage caused both to its workers and the communities – silicosis disease among them – is peremptory and alarming.

SKOPJE / TIRANA - Forests and rivers of Albania and North Macedonia have been exploited for years. These two countries, located in the Western Balkans, have amazing ecosystems and biodiversity, with plenty of endemic tree species and rivers with abundance of water. But natural resources in the ...

DNESTROVSK – This project looks at the environmental issues caused by two industrial objects which both stem from the Soviet era, Moldovan Thermal Power Plant in the self-proclaimed Transnistrian Republic in Moldova, and a granite quarry in the floodplain of the beautiful Yuzhny Bug River, in the ...

KAMPALA/DAR ES SALAAM - In 2006, British company Tullow Oil discovered oil reserves in the Albertine region in northwestern Uganda. In early 2022, Total signed an agreement with Tanzania and Uganda and Chinese state-owned CNOOC to begin construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) ...

KYIV -  This story examines the relationship between the pace of Ukraine's reforms regarding industrial pollution and the country's prospects for integration into the European Union, particularly in the promising energy sector.

WARSAW - Dreams of growing megawatts like tomatoes on a windowsill. Will energy cooperatives give power to the people?

MILAN - Asset management companies in Europe are using semantic tricks and regulatory loopholes to sell 'green' investments that actually fund the hydrocarbon industry. Italy's Eurizon, a subsidiary of Intesa SanPaolo, is a case in point.