This short video explains everything you may have ever wanted to know about the Reconstruction of the State, but were afraid to ask.
The Czech Republic suffers from some of the worst corruption in the world. In order to fight it dozens of activists and experts got together to push for nine anticorruption bills aimed at increasing transparency while stopping conflicts of interest and misuse of public funds. The centerpiece of their efforts? A public pledge to support the anticorruption measures, which they put before every member of parliament.
At first, progress was painfully slow. But during snap elections in 2013, hundreds of volunteers took our cause directly to the candidates. Ultimately, 165 out of 200 members of parliament promised to support the reforms.
But the initial victory was short-lived. Eventually, parliament passed only one of the nine bills. The rest succumbed to an onslaught of excuses, delays, lobbyists, and political infighting. As the tide turned against reform, members of parliament started to demonize the pledge itself, calling us blackmailers, extremists, and radicals. The media eventually moved on to other issues.
Despite all these obstacles, we managed to get five of the proposed reforms passed by working with a small group of politicians across the party lines who actively advocated for the bills. Our initiative also inspired other coalitions to lead similar campaigns both at home and in neighboring countries. It’s a step in the right direction for a country that desperately needs to change the way it does business.
A group of leading organisations in the field of sustainable finance, including Frank Bold, issued a joint statement with recommendations for the upcoming revision of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive*.
In December Frank Bold team co-organised a meeting of NGOs and representatives of the Member States of the European Union. The all-day meeting in Brussels was prepared in cooperation with our colleagues from European Environmental Bureau and Client Earth.
Thirty thousand people in the Czech Republic’s Liberec region face a loss of access to drinking water due to the planned expansion of the Turów coal mine. This mine is planned to newly stretch outwards to just 150 meters from the Czech border and downwards to a depth below the bottom of the Baltic. The resulting drainage of Czech underground water is not just a threat to citizens; the drying out of the area would destroy entire local ecosystems and cause significant agricultural damage. A further increase to dust and noise levels is a threat as well. Furthermore, the end date for mining is to be delayed from 2020 out to 2044.
