Peter Bosshard's blog

Meles Zenawi and Italy's Foreign Minister inaugurate Gilgel Gibe 2

On Jan. 13, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi inaugurated the Gilgel Gibe 2 scheme, the country's biggest hydropower project. "It is possible to speed up development without polluting the environment," Zenawi proudly declared as he cut the ceremonial ribbon. Yet this was wishful thinking.

Living on Pandora

March 30, 2164. - I have spent a lot of time on Pandora lately. I have explored its verdant valleys, lush rain forests, and floating mountains. I have tried to stay away from the ferocious aynantang and aypalulukan. And I have fallen in love with the mighty rivers and waterfalls, which cascade down sheer cliffs and which you may have admired in the Avatar movie.

Three Gorges resettlers (Chongqing China Three Gorges Museum)

"Battling with heaven is endless joy, fighting with the earth is endless joy, and struggling with humanity is endless joy," Mao Zedong once proclaimed. The Three Gorges Dam, which the great helmsman had conjured in one of his poems, is one of the manifestations of this philosophy. Nature inevitably strikes back against those who fight it. In the case of the Three Gorges Dam, we just learned that at least 300,000 more people need to displaced so that the environmental impacts can be kept under control.

Liu Xiang of China outran his American competitors in the 2004 Olympic 110 meter hurdle to win the Gold medal (Chine Informations)

In April 2009, President Obama said, "The nation that leads the world in twenty-first-century clean energy will be the nation that leads in the twenty-first-century global economy." Will China or the United States win the race for clean energy technology and future economic predominance? Here is an update with some personal impressions from Beijing.

Construction work on China's Kamchay Dam in Cambodia (Marcus Rhinelander)

China counts half of the world’s large dams within its borders, and is the biggest producer of hydropower. Throughout the 20th century, Western companies helped China build up its hydropower capacity. Yet in the huge Ertan and Three Gorges projects of the 1990s, China changed the rules of the game. Companies interested in the multi-billion dollar contracts had to manufacture half the turbines and generators on Chinese soil, in cooperation with Chinese partners. The leading hydropower firms of the time – including ABB, Alstom, General Electric and Siemens – complied, and transferred their technology in the process.

“I don’t care if a cat is white or black so long as it catches mice,” China’s former leader Deng Xiaoping famously commented on the role of ideology in economic development. In line with this credo, China offers foreign aid with no political strings attached. The only exception is that recipient governments must accept the One-China policy, i.e. may not recognize Taiwan. “Business is business. We try to separate politics from business”, China’s Deputy Foreign Minister confirmed in 2004.  

After the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund tied their loans to the privatization of public utilities, the liberalization of foreign trade and other political conditions, China’s pragmatism came as a welcome reprieve for many borrowing governments. Yet a few days ago, Ecuador’s President protested that negotiations with China were “worse than the IMF.” What is happening?

The ancient town of Hasankeyf would be flooded by the Ilisu Dam (Wikimedia Commons)

The Ilisu Dam on the Tigris is a primary example of a dam that violates international social and environmental standards. Western financiers pulled out of the project in summer, but China is now considering filling the gap. Such support would be a huge setback for the affected communities and international civil society, and would express contempt for the environmental standards which China has helped to establish. Here is the latest.

Kids (Wikimedia Commons  )

Global society depletes the planet’s resources ever more quickly. According to new data just released by the Global Footprint Network, we consume almost 50 percent more than what the Earth can sustainably provide. Arab Gulf states and the US lead the list of profligate consumers. As a consequence, we are increasingly in debt to future generations. Here are the figures.

Hingol National Park (Wikimedia Commons)

Pakistan’s government is currently considering building the Hingol Dam, a $400 million irrigation dam in the mountains of Balochistan Province. The project is controversial because it would impact a national park and a centuries-old temple which is revered by the region’s Hindu population. A few weeks ago, I got an e-mail from an engineering firm in Pakistan. Out of the blue, the firm offered me the contract to build the Hingol Dam and four similar projects. The offer came as a surprise because working for International Rivers, I am rather skeptical of such projects. I may pass as a dam expert, but have never built such a structure before.

Zipingpu Dam (ChengDu Online, www.cdol.net/BBS)

Scientists agree that dams can trigger earthquakes. A new research paper presents fresh evidence that the devastating earthquake which killed more than 80,000 people in China’s Sichuan Province in May 2008 was triggered by the Zipingpu Dam. This would be the world’s deadliest dam-induced earthquake ever.