Asian Development Bank / Press Releases

Poor sector planning, lack of public participation aggravate social and environmental impacts described in ADB report

A report presented in Vientiane today on the cumulative impacts of hydropower development in Laos' Nam Ngum river basin indicates that proposed dams would have serious impacts on the livelihoods of tens of thousands of Laotians. But the flawed planning process makes it unlikely that this Asian Development Bank (ADB)-supported cumulative impact assessment (CIA) will have any influence over decisions taken on whether or how to proceed with these hydropower schemes.

Leaders of Mekong countries are planning to sign a key Memorandum of Understanding at the Second Greater Mekong Sub–region¹ (GMS) Summit in Kunming, China on July 4–5, 2005. The MOU helps to establish an implementation framework that facilitates the development of a power grid and trading system which poses a serious threat to the economies, environment and local communities.

The World Bank Board of Directors voted today to approve the Nam Theun 2 dam in Laos. Nam Theun 2 is the first major dam to be supported by the World Bank since it announced its intention to ramp up lending for large dams and other "high–risk" big infrastructure projects in 2003.

Plans for Mekong Power Grid Would Undermine People’s Rights to Water

As the Asian Development Bank’s “Water Week 2004” winds to a close in Manila, communities are at risk of losing their livelihoods and natural resources to the ADB-supported Mekong power grid.

Critics say plan is destructive, 40 years out of date

A new Asian Development Bank report has recommended the construction of a regional power grid in mainland Southeast Asia fueled exclusively by hydropower. Twelve dams in Burma, China and Laos are proposed to generate power for consumers in Thailand and Vietnam.

A report released today by International Rivers documents the Asian Development Bank's dam-building activities in the Mekong watershed. The report, released to coincide with the ADB's 30th anniversary meeting in Fukuoka, Japan, states the ADB has been "seriously deficient" in quantifying and even recognizing the impacts of the dams it has funded in the region.