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Letter from International Rivers to Theun-Hinboun Power Company Ltd.

Kate Ross — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:13:13 -0800

Robert Allen Jr.
General Manager
Theun-Hinboun Power Company Ltd.
P.O. Box 3382
Vientiane, Lao PDR

Dear Mr. Allen,

Findings from International Rivers' Field Visit to the Theun-Hinboun Expansion Project

Rivers, Fish and the Tree of Life

Peter Bosshard — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:35:00 -0800

Tree of Life (http://firstpcalbuquerque.wordpress.com/)

All life on Earth began in the sea some 3.5 billion years ago. Yet there is a twist to this story. New research shows that almost all fish species that inhabit the oceans today moved there from rivers and lakes. This sheds new light on the importance of freshwater ecosystems for life on Earth. And it suggests that by damming and polluting rivers, we may destroy the seed banks of future generations.

Stop Violence Against the Ngöbe Indigenous Peoples

Monti Aguirre — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:57:08 -0800

Ngobe People Protesting- Cortesia de Patria Grande

The heavy weight of a law that would let foreign companies build mines, dams, hotels, and other projects on Ngöbe-Buglé indigenous lands in Panama has the local indigenous people quite worried.

China at the Tipping Point

Grace Mang — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:26:07 -0800

Last week, I sat in Washington in a Senate Hearing Room to give a testimony on the grim situation facing China's rivers. Alongside Elizabeth Economy - a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and Jennifer Turner - Director of the Woodrow Wilson Center's China Environment Forum, we laid out the frightening and significant water challenges that China is facing. Unlike many at the US-China Economic and Security Commission hearing, I left feeling optimistic and inspired, which begged me to ponder what is the basis of my optimism? Do I just have a bad case of blind faith?

Click here to view the full video

Day of Action for Rivers Reflections

Katherine Brousseau — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:26:31 -0800

Past Actions: Creativity, Celebration, and Courage

Something I love that was said to me when I first arrived at International Rivers was, “The Day of Action for Rivers will happen whether or not you’re ‘coordinating’ it.” I love this, because for a moment I can glimpse all the things being planned around the world right now…people getting together and talking, putting their energy into protecting the river-life networks around them. And I appreciate it because I am immediately reminded of the gravity that also accompanies this Day of Action for Rivers – people organize their actions because they have to continue standing up for the protection of rivers, their connected ecosystems, and people. It is an ongoing struggle.

The Global CDM Hydro Hall of Shame

Katy Yan — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:50:18 -0800

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is meant to catalyze climate-friendly and sustainable projects in low-income countries. Instead, it's provided massive subsidies to hydropower developers while increasing greenhouse gas emissions. Through deception and abuse of the system, at least two-thirds of all CDM projects are likely not additional, and more are slipping in each year.

In an attempt to cure its ills during the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, the CDM Executive Board has initiated a year-long policy dialogue. Having failed to reach any decisions about reform at Durban, the CDM policy panel members will examine unresolved issues ranging from stronger rules for public participation to an appeals procedure. Of particular concern to the global movement for rivers is ensuring that the CDM imposes greater limitations on large hydropower projects, which are more likely to create enormous environmental and social problems for local communities than smaller community-driven decentralized projects.

Lao Program Coordinator

Aviva Imhof — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:46:21 -0800

Position Available

Lao Program Coordinator

Bangkok, Thailand

International Rivers supports communities around the world in protecting their rivers, watersheds and human rights. We work to halt destructive dams and encourage better methods of meeting needs for water, energy and protection from floods.

World Bank's Program-For-Results Loan Instrument: Good Intentions?

Zachary Hurwitz — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:19:34 -0800

The World Bank's social and environmental standards face an uncertain future as Bob Zoellick leaves this year.

The World Bank's Board of Directors has approved a new lending instrument called Program-For-Results (P4R). The instrument is supposed to fund programs, not provide project finance, and is meant to work within a borrower's existing regulatory framework – what the Bank calls a country systems approach. However, not all country systems are made equal. Some of today's largest dam financiers operate within a highly unaccountable national policy framework, where human rights, transparency, and civil society participation may take a back seat to the "national interest."

Brazilian Mining Giant Vale Voted Worst Corporation in the World

Zachary Hurwitz — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:10:18 -0800

Company wins prize for leading share in the Belo Monte Dam

Keep Our Rivers Free on March 14th

Katherine Brousseau — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:17:04 -0800

My name is Katherine, I'm the 2012 Day of Action for Rivers coordinator and will be writing this blog for the next two months. The more I learn about the global events which have taken place over the last fourteen years on this symbolic day, the more amazed I am. There are so many courageous people out there working to protect their river ecosystems and communities from the harmful effects of dams and pollution. The Day of Action for Rivers is a time for people to represent and move forward with their struggles, and also celebrate the beauty and benefits of a local river - and all the world's rivers.

Costa Rica - National Forum Against Dams 2009

What is International River's role in this worldwide time of action for rivers? Our role is to find out what individuals and groups are doing in support of healthy rivers. We want to hear from those at the grassroots level and provide a stage for their voices, to connect people across the world fighting in their many ways for clean and free-flowing rivers, and to celebrate every individual's effort to speak out. As photos and stories come our way, we'll be sharing them here, in the hope that they spread around the world. A saying I recently heard from the Brazilian Landless Workers Movement (MST) is ringing in my ear: "Globalizar la lucha! Globalizar la esperanza! Globalize the struggle! Globalize the hope!"

A Milestone Birthday for Planet Earth

Peter Bosshard — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:45:13 -0800

Milestone birthdays are opportunities to take stock of our family, health and financial situation. So how is Planet Earth doing 20 years after the Earth Summit, the historic UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro? The planet’s economic output has more than doubled since 1992. Some members of the global family are doing extremely well, but the number of hungry people is increasing. And the planet’s health is steadily deteriorating, with vital ecosystems nearing the point of collapse.

No More Catfish in the Madeira?

Zachary Hurwitz — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:43:58 -0800

Fish are dying at an alarming rate because of the Santo Antônio Dam. (Instituto Rio Madeira Vivo)

This blog in Brazil caught our eye recently: catfish are now disappearing at an alarming rate from the Madeira River, thanks to the reservoir of the Santo Antônio Dam.

When the environmental license for the Santo Antônio Dam was approved against the findings of fish experts, Lula controversially claimed that the dams would not be stopped because of "some catfish." Now, the catfish are disappearing. Don't say we didn't warn you.

International Rivers Recommendations for the Rio+20 Summit

Peter Bosshard — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:11:35 -0800

International Rivers submitted the attached recommendations for the 2012 UN Summit on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in October 2011.

Avances en el Campo de las Emisiones de Embalses

Monti Aguirre — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:36:46 -0800

Un número grande y creciente de estudios científicos indican que los embalses, especialmente en los trópicos, son una fuente global significativa de contaminación por gases de invernadero.

Amazon Program Policy Analyst

Aviva Imhof — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:45:13 -0800

Position Available

Comments to CF Carbon Fund II Ltd Regarding the Kamchay Hydropower Project (Cambodia)

Katy Yan — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:26:21 -0800

We request that the Kamchay Hydropower Project in Cambodia, which applied for validation in the fall of 2008 and has now reapplied, not be validated and allowed to apply for CDM credits, because it is not an additional project, was carried out in a poor manner and carries adverse environmental and social impacts. To review International Rivers’ concerns regarding the Kamchay Dam and its pre

Xayaburi Dam: What Next?

Kirk Herbertson — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:45:35 -0800

On December 8th, we watched the future of the Mekong River hang by the threads of a single meeting. Government ministers from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam met to decide whether to approve Laos’ controversial Xayaburi Dam, the first of 12 large dams across the Mainstream Mekong River. Scientists warn that the dams would decimate the Mekong River’s fish population and threaten the food security of more than 2 million people, but the projects have crept forward nonetheless.

Belo Monte Construction Shut Down by Protestors

Ian Elwood — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:40:46 -0800

Movimento Xingu Vivo para Sempre stops construction at Belo Monte's Pimental work site

In the first days of the New Year, Brazilian contractors quietly started blockading the Xingu River to allow construction to start on the massive Belo Monte Dam. Often called the "Pandora Dam" by mainstream media because of James Cameron’s support for the struggle against it, the hydroelectric project could become the world’s third largest. While construction had started on roads and associated works several months ago, the building of coffer dams to divert the flow of the river started during the Brazillian new year holiday, presumably to sidestep the scrutiny of civil society, NGOs and regional activists. But escape scrutiny it did not.

Colombia's El Quimbo in Limbo

Monti Aguirre — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:51:32 -0800

Take Action: Support communities in Colombia by signing a letter to the Ministry of Environment, Housing and Sustainable Development, to stop the diversion of the Magdelena River.

(Girls on Magdalena River: Courtesy of Polinizaciones http://polinizaciones.blogspot.com/)The Occupy Movement reached Colombia's Upper Magdalena River on January 3, 2012. Communities affected by the proposed El Quimbo Dam project paralyzed dam construction by blocking a bridge and road access for 15 days. Inhabitants of this area are concerned that flooding 21,000 hectares of fertile lands will wash away the lives of communities that have made these valleys their homes for centuries. Their struggle against Goliath- the project is of a subsidiary of powerful Italian Enel Construction Company- has prevented dam construction from moving forward, and brought new public attention to this problematic project.

Protestors Paralyze Belo Monte Dam Construction Works

Kate Ross — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:11:24 -0800