Energy Planning

An in-depth study of the hydrological risks to hydropower dams on the Zambezi River gives an early warning about what Southern Africa could be facing as it contemplates plans for more large hydropower dams in a time of climate change.

In April, 2011, we co-authored a report with Groundwork and Friends of the Earth on energy financing at the World Bank, titled "World Bank, Climate Change, and Energy Financing: Something Old. Something New?". Read the report below, and download the report at the link that follows. Download the report (courtesey of Scribd)

Ahead of the release of the World Bank's revised energy strategy, the Ecologist speaks to sustainable development advocate Srinivas Krishnaswamy about why despite huge gigawatt power projects, 45 per cent of India's households still lack electricity Does India need the World Bank? Not really, if you are looking at funding from the World Bank for energy projects. The World Bank does not directly fund both of the energy projects coming up in India. Some of it is coming from the IFC but then you have the private sector also investing heavily into energy infrastructure. When it comes to

The World Bank is considering limiting its financing of coal-fired power plants to the poorest countries as part of a new energy strategy, a draft prepared for the board of directors shows. Staff at the Washington-based lender have made proposals seeking to reconcile the need for broader energy access in developing economies with the challenges of climate change. They also stressed the “tremendous potential” for developing hydroelectric power in the document dated March 16, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg. World Bank President Robert Zoellick last year urged countries to move

From December 2010 World Rivers Review In the Mekong region, ongoing economic growth despite the global economic crisis continues to drive a push for extensive dam-building. Since we last reported on the Mekong region's new dam builders from Thailand, Vietnam and China in 2007, these developers have proposed even more ambitious and controversial projects, including a cascade of 11 dams on the Mekong River's mainstream (see "New Report Urges Ten-Year Dam-Building Freeze on Mekong"). Climate change is increasingly cited as a justification for dam building, as is a serious drought and then f

From September 2010 World Rivers Review The world gets about 20% of its electricity from hydropower, but in Sub-Saharan Africa that number is 60% (excluding coal-heavy South Africa) – and many countries get more than 80% of their electricity from dams. Drought-caused blackouts are common, and expected to get worse with climate change. Hundreds more dams are being planned, many of them in already dangerously hydro-dependent regions. This map shows the current status of hydrodependency across the continent, and plots some key proposed dams in these places. Finally, we include some informat

The most comprehensive guidelines for large dams that protect the rights of river-dependent communities were outlined by the World Commission on Dams (WCD) in 2000. Ten years later, International Rivers is happy to announce a new briefing kit for activists and allies, "Protecting Rivers and Rights: The World Commission on Dams Recommendations in Action," as part of our WCD+10 activities to move the dams debate forward. The purpose of this publication is to provide activists with concrete examples of where and how the WCD principles have been applied, and what happened when they were ignored.