Corporate Accountability

Our rivers are a source of life – and a coveted resource for corporations and governments. While most hydropower companies commit to protecting these ecosystems, there’s a significant gap between policies and performance.

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) says that corporations bear direct responsibility for upholding human rights. Dam builders routinely run afoul of even weak national laws and policies, however, facing little accountability for the damage they cause. The cost is borne by those who can least afford it – rural communities, women and fragile ecosystems. 

A woman holding a microphone gestures towards a poster of a town.
A representative of Tay Giang Women’s Union shares about her community’s situation before and after resettlement due to hydropower project in Quang Nam Province, Vietnam. | Photo by Centre for Social Research and Development (CSRD)

Our Work to hold the Hydropower Industry Accoutable

We work with communities to hold these companies accountable, documenting and exposing human rights abuses, harm and corruption. We advocate for redress, including through the judicial system. We engage with governments and financiers about private sector standards and safeguards. We press for a just energy transition.

Hydropower Industry

Large dams are being planned and developed on major rivers like the Mekong, the Amazon, and the Congo, where millions depend directly on their rivers for food and livelihoods. In too many cases local communities should the financial burdens and social and environmental impacts while the developers walk away with a profit. Learn more about our work to hold the industry accountable.

Financiers

International Rivers holds public and private funders accountable. Learn more about our work to dry up funding for dam projects that violate social and environmental standards, make sure funders and governments keep their promises, and redirect resources into better alternatives, including a just energy transition.

Take Action for dam collapse victims

Thousands of people lost their homes when faulty construction led to a devastating dam collapse in southern Laos. Those responsible for construction of the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower project must be held accountable.

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