International Rivers News RSS Feed

Ethiopia’s Newest Dam Suffers Tunnel Collapse Days After Inauguration

Lori Pottinger — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 10:06:07 -0800

A critical water-passage tunnel in the newly inaugurated Gilgel Gibe 2 hydropower project in Ethiopia reportedly collapsed this week.

Licença Ambiental da Hidroelétrica de Belo Monte é Condenada

Alexandra De Sá Pereira Meciel Teixeira — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:23:28 -0800

O terceiro maior projeto hidroelétrico do mundo devastará vasta área de floresta Amazônica

Environmental License for Belo Monte Dam Condemned

Aviva Imhof — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:38:09 -0800

World's Third Largest Dam Project Would Devastate Vast Area of Amazon Rainforest

Climate Justice Protests Ongoing at Copenhagen

Katy Yan — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:34:38 -0800

Green peace protest, 10 Dec (http://www.iisd.ca/climate/cop15/)

The latest:

Climate justice protest outside the Bella Center (where COP15 is being held) by Greenpeace this morning, calling out "Don't leave youth out in the cold" as they stood in the 7 degrees C weather in swimsuits. Brief video to come.

Comision Interamericana De Derechos Humanos Hara Seguimiento a Represas en America Latina

Monti Aguirre — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 11:56:56 -0800

Comunicado de Prensa

Comision Interamericana de Derechos Humanos Hara Seguimiento a las Represas en America Latina

Washington, DC. - Por primera vez, la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH) celebró una audiencia pública para analizar el impacto que las grandes represas en América Latina tienen en los derechos humanos y en el ambiente.

Western Banks Violate Rights, Law in Lao Dam Deal

Aviva Imhof — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:00:06 -0800

ANZ, BNP Paribas and KBC Investment in Theun-Hinboun Dam Violates Equator Principles and Lao Law

China Needs to Address Environmental Challenge in Africa - Report

Peter Bosshard — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:29:12 -0800

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Examines Impacts of Large Dams in Latin America

Monti Aguirre — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:17:53 -0700

For Immediate Release
Contacts:
Astrid Puentes - AIDA, (510) 220-7647, apuentes [at] aida-americas [dot] org (Washington DC)
Marco Von Borstel - IMDEC, +(52-1)33-1269 26 21, marco [at] imdec [dot] net (Mexico)
Monti Aguirre- International Rivers, +707-591-1220 monti [at] internationalrivers [dot] org (California)

International Rivers Calls for Lessons to be Drawn from Three Gorges Dam

Katy Yan — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:03:00 -0700

Fifteen years after construction began, the reservoir of the Three Gorges Dam will reach its final height of 175 meters in early November. International Rivers calls for the following lessons to be drawn from the world's largest and most controversial hydropower project:

Independent Review Highlights the True Costs of Belo Monte Dam

Glenn Switkes — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:49:01 -0700

The true costs of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Project, planned for the Xingu River in the Brazilian Amazon, have been revealed in a new independent review by a panel of 40 specialists. The panel found that the dam would have serious consequences for the region, its inhabitants, and ecosystems of the Amazon rainforest.

The Right Climate for Green Energy in Mozambique

Lori Pottinger — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:41:48 -0700

Light or water? That’s a choice Southern Africa could face in a few years if current plans to build more large dams on the Zambezi proceed.

Communities Say No to India's Tipaimukh High Dam

Berklee Lowrey-Evans — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:23:24 -0700

From September 2009 World Rivers Review

The proposed Tipaimukh High Dam would dam the Barak River 500 meters downstream from the confluence of its tributary the Tuivai River in Manipur State. More than half of the 900-kilometre-long Barak falls within India; its lower half drains Bangladesh. The Barak system is the second largest drainage system in Northeast India. The entire riverine ecosystem of the Barak River Basin supports an endemic agrarian civilization thriving on biodiversity-based agro-ecological systems that have profound local and global significance.

Laos' Don Sahong Dam Could Affect Millions: Report

Carl Middleton — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:46:21 -0700

Open letter reveals widespread concern amongst scientific community

Proposed Lower Sesan 2 Dam, Cambodia Fails to Uphold Best Practice

Carl Middleton — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:39:29 -0700

Phnom Penh - Plans to construct a large hydropower dam near the confluence of the Sesan and Srepok rivers in Sesan District, Stung Treng Province may be ill-advised given the project’s poor feasibility process, which has not adequately considered the project’s negative environmental and social impacts and the needs of affected communities living up and downstream of the proposed dam-site, reveals a recently published report “Best Practices in Compensation and Resettlement for Large Dams: The Case of the Planned Lower Sesan 2 Hydropower Project in Northeastern Cambodia.”

Independent Review of Ethiopia’s Gibe 3 Dam Moves Forward

Karolo Aparicio — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:00:06 -0700

African Development Bank’s Inspection Panel Accepts Complaint

Are Dams In Patagonia Necessary? An Analysis of Chile's Energy Future

Gary Graham Hughes — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:35:57 -0700

The long awaited study by the Consejo de Defensa de la Patagonia analyzing energy alternatives to hydroelectric mega-projects in Chile's Patagonia has been officially launched.

Thousands Call for Regional Governments to Save the Mekong

Aviva Imhof — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:14:29 -0700

In a bold outpouring of public concern for Southeast Asia's Mekong River, more than 16,000 people from within the six-country Mekong region and around the world have signed a "Save the Mekong" petition urging governments to abandon plans for hydropower development along the river's mainstream.

The Smoke and Mirrors of the EIB

Terri Hathaway — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 03:27:36 -0700

Clarification on the European Investment Bank’s role in Ethiopia’s Gibe 3 Dam

Giant "Dam Home Depot" Banner Flies Over Company's Annual Shareholder Meeting

Aviva Imhof — Tue, 26 May 2009 13:51:14 -0700

Five Destructive Dams Proposed in Delicate Patagonia Wilderness by Home Depot Suppliers

Home Depot Urged to Take Their $50 Million Elsewhere to Avoid the World's Longest Clearcut

(Atlanta, GA -- Thursday, May 28, 2009) -- Early this morning the nonprofit environmental organization International Rivers flew a giant "Dam Home Depot" banner over the compa

Missed Opportunity as Climate Bill Moves out of House Committee

Patrick McCully — Fri, 22 May 2009 17:47:32 -0700

CONTACT: Patrick McCully (International Rivers), +1 510 848 1155

In response to passage of the "American Clean Energy and Security Act" by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, a coalition of environmental, legal, consumer, and community advocacy groups released the following joint statement:

Big Dam, Bigger Problems

Colin Carpenter — Thu, 14 May 2009 09:37:43 -0700

Originally published in Los Angeles Times

Mega-dam to Test AfDB’s Will

Colin Carpenter — Thu, 14 May 2009 09:35:39 -0700

Originally posted in Business Daily Africa

Spain's Banco Santander Criticized for Hypocrisy

Glenn Switkes — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:32:06 -0700

Spain's Banco Santander Criticized for Hypocrisy 
Funding Destructive Dam in the Amazon While Adopting Green Principles

African NGOs Call on African Development Bank Not to Fund Ethiopia's Gibe 3 Dam

Peter Bosshard — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:30:36 -0700

Dakar, Senegal - At the annual meeting of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Dakar, a controversy erupted today over the Gibe 3 Dam, a large hydropower project in Ethiopia that the AfDB is considering funding.

Civil Society Press Conference at AfDB Annual Meeting

Terri Hathaway — Wed, 13 May 2009 01:47:15 -0700

ETHIOPIA’S GIBE 3 DAM IN VIOLATION OF AfDB POLICIES

WHEN:   Wednesday, May 13 at 12:30pm

WHERE:   AfDB Conference Center, Room C103, Dakar, Senegal

SPEAKERS: