9 Hydropower projects threaten Romania's protected forests

Romanian rivers are threatened by 9 hydropower projects which risk being greenlighted as a result of the #REpowerEU plan

More than 130 NGOs sent an open letter to co-legislators from the European Parliament, European Commission and Council Presidency, asking them to exclude hydropower from go-to areas as well as including sustainability criteria recognizing that hydropower has direct impacts on freshwater ecosystems which must be mitigated.

Because hydropower potential has been so exploited already in Europe, new hydropower would only make a small contribution to the energy transition, while causing immense damage to our waterways. According to WWF’s Living Planet Report 2022, freshwater species populations have seen the greatest overall global decline (83%), and within this species group, on average, monitored migratory fish populations have declined by 93% in Europe, making our continent the most affecte