Mastodawn

Follow the Money EU Jul 31, 2023

Tech billionaire Bill Gates has a new climate project increasing his influence in Brussels. The EU has invested over 400 million euros in the sustainability project, but who will benefit is completely unclear.

https://www.ftm.eu/articles/ngo-6-bill-melinda-gates-breakthrough-coalition-energy-industry?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=EngBillGatesKlimaatNGO

Bill Gates obscures his financial interests in European climate investments

Tech billionaire Bill Gates thinks he has the solution to the climate crisis: Breakthrough Energy, a combination charity and investment fund. Prestige and good connections let the philanthropist easily wangle the required millions in Brussels. But for what exactly? The public and private interests involved are almost impossible to disentangle.

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Follow the Money EU Jul 29, 2023

Who is stronger, Google or the EU? For years, the Commission has been trying to curb the power of US tech giants. Now, there are new rules to promote competition. Will that change the status quo, and break Google’s monopoly?

https://www.ftm.eu/articles/will-eu-rein-in-google-with-new-rules?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=EUGoogle

Will the EU finally rein in Google with its new gatekeeper rules?

A new European law will come into force this year, requiring tech giants to allow more competition. This is necessary because competition rules have not proved effective enough to curb Big Tech’s market power. The lingering dispute over Google’s product comparison service, Google Shopping, is a test case for the new law. Will it finally provide competitors of the US company with more room to breathe?

Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism

Follow the Money EU Jul 13, 2023

Employees of South Pole, the world’s biggest climate consultant and carbon trader, are concerned about the company. Well over 80 employees signed a letter in which they stated that profit has become more important than climate impact.

Read the article. https://www.ftm.eu/articles/employee-uprising-south-pole?&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ENGInternVerzetSouthPole

Rumbling within the world’s largest climate consultant after FTM publications

Employees of South Pole, the world’s most prominent climate consultant and carbon trader, are deeply concerned about the direction the company is taking. In early February, well over 80 employees signed a letter in which they stated that making a profit has become more important than climate impact. Since then, they stand united on a laundry list of concerns about the company’s operations, according to internal documents.

Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism

Follow the Money EU Jul 7, 2023

In September 2022, the European Commission president called on member states to speed up the flow of billions from the covid recovery fund to business and social projects to boost the economy. The opposite happened: the flow of money began to stall.

Read the article over here. https://www.ftm.eu/articles/recovery-files-evaluation?&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=MiljardenCoronaherstelENG

The billion-euro EU covid recovery fund is slow to be distributed to member states

In September 2022, the European Commission president called on member states to speed up the flow of billions from the covid recovery fund to business and social projects in order to boost the economy. The opposite happened: the flow of money began to slowly stall.

Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism

Follow the Money EU Jun 27, 2023

Shadowy lobby groups are gaining legitimacy by organising debates with MEPs, and doing so with astonishing ease. To regain citizens’ trust after a major corruption scandal, Parliament has introduced stricter rules. But MEPs still have a lot of freedom.

Read the article by clicking this link. https://www.ftm.eu/articles/secretive-lobby-groups-use-parliamentarians-to-gain-a-european-platform-in-brussels?&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ENGComplottenBrussel

Secretive lobby groups use parliamentarians to gain a European platform in Brussels

Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism

Follow the Money EU Jun 20, 2023

The originally Russian gambling company 1xBet operates worldwide through more than a thousand websites, both legal and illegal. The Netherlands fears damage to its international reputation because these companies operate under a Curaçao gambling licence.

https://www.ftm.eu/articles/1xbet-background?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=1xBetCuracaoENG

Crypto billions and illegal gambling sites: ‘Russian’ 1xBet conquers the world from Curaçao

The originally Russian gambling company 1xBet operates worldwide through more than a thousand websites, both legal and illegal. Newly surfaced documents show that the Netherlands fears damage to its international reputation due to companies like this one which operate under a Curaçao gambling licence. Follow the Money followed 1xBet's data trails and charted the scale of the secretive gambling empire.

Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism

Follow the Money EU Jun 15, 2023

The emission figures on which European policies regarding nitrogen, climate, and water are based are incomplete and contain errors. ‘New’ hazardous substances are not included, and entire sectors record nothing.

https://www.ftm.eu/articles/rotterdam-antwerp-holes-in-emission-registration?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=EUCijfersKlimaat

European emission figures are wrong: hazardous substances fall outside the scope, and entire sectors record nothing

The official European and Dutch emission registrations show large gaps. The figures industries must provide are incomplete, are calculated instead of measured, and many companies and entire sectors elude registration. This means that emissions of greenhouse gases and toxic substances are probably severely underestimated. At the same time, these figures form the basis for climate, water and nitrogen policies.

Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism

Follow the Money EU Jun 6, 2023

As a member of the Bundestag, Gerhard Schick’s work was for years focused on the biggest tax scandal in German history: CumEx. Now he is the leader of an organization that takes on the powerful lobby of banks and insurers.

https://www.ftm.eu/articles/gerhard-schick-countering-financial-powers?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=EUInterviewCumEx

Financial activist Gerhard Schick: ‘CumEx fraudsters should go to prison’

As a member of the Bundestag, Gerhard Schick’s work was for years focused on the biggest tax scandal in German history: CumEx. Since 2018, he has been the chairman of Finanzwende, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which aims to act as a counterforce against Germany’s powerful financial lobby. CumEx is one of Finanzwende’s main targets. ‘Some people in the financial industry are afraid of only one thing: the slamming door of a prison cell.’

Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism

Follow the Money EU Jun 2, 2023

Follow the Money found seven Chinese regions in Xinjiang that supply hops to CR Beer – with which Heineken cooperates as a shareholder – and where there is a strong indication of repression and coercive labour.

Read the article. https://www.ftm.eu/articles/chinese-hop-coerced-labour?&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ENGChinaBier

Hops from China drenched in coercive labour, also at Heineken’s partner

Earlier this month, Follow the Money reported that Heineken has a close working relationship with the Chinese CR Beer company and is profiting handsomely from that deal. CR Beer gets its hop – one of the main raw materials for brewing beer – mainly from the Xinjiang region. However, these farms employ coercive labour and are (partly) responsible for the cultural repression of minorities within that region. What is going on there, and what does this repression entail?

Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism

Follow the Money EU May 20, 2023

Hundreds of abandoned oil and gas platforms remain in the North Sea. Decommissioning would cost billions, postponing the cleanup job helps fossil giants to profit from their assets in the North Sea. #NorthSeaInvestigations

Read the article here. https://www.ftm.eu/articles/north-sea-clean-up-of-rotten-infrastructure-costs-billions-but-no-one-wants-to-pay?&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ENGNoordzeeAfgedankt

North Sea clean up of rotten infrastructure costs billions (but no one wants to pay)

The North Sea is littered with hundreds of drilling platforms, thousands of gas and oil wells and tens of thousands of kilometres of pipelines – all soon to be decommissioned. But whether this fossil graveyard will actually be cleaned up is unclear. An international research team, led by Follow the Money, investigated why and discovered some significant financial and strategic interests. ‘Nobody likes pouring money down the drain.’

Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism