Peru’s Energy Future

Peru’s Energy Future

By: Monti Aquirre, Latin America Program Director Last year, International Rivers and the Peruvian organization Forum Solidaridad commissioned a study about Peru’s energy future. We wanted to understand what plans were in the works, and rigorously examine whether these plans were in step with 21st century realities. We asked Dr. Alberto Ríos Villacorta, an engineer, researcher and renewable…

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The Surprising Success of Micro Hydro

The Surprising Success of Micro Hydro

By: Sarah Bardeen, former Communications Director Dipti Vaghela is passionate about micro hydro. To be fair, she’s also obsessed with other mini-grids, including biomass gasifiers and small-scale solar. But since 2006, Vaghela has been deep in the weeds on this subject, working as both a researcher and a practitioner to develop community-based micro-hydro in South…

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JOINT STATEMENT | 10 Reasons Why Climate Initiatives Should Not Include Large Hydropower Projects

JOINT STATEMENT | 10 Reasons Why Climate Initiatives Should Not Include Large Hydropower Projects

By: Amazon Watch – Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact – Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente (AIDA) – Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation – Carbon Market Watch – Fondation Danielle Mitterrand (France Libertés) International Rivers – Jeunes Volontaires pour l’Environnement International – Movimiento Rios Vivos – Oxfam International – Rede Latinoamericana contra represas y por…

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Zombie Dams: Five Projects That Just. Won’t. Die.

Zombie Dams: Five Projects That Just. Won’t. Die.

By: Sarah Bardeen zom·bie dam /ˈzämbē dam/ noun 1. A proposed dam project that activists successfully halt before it’s built, only to see it rise again and again – years later – in different forms. We’ve all seen classic zombie movies like “Night of the Living Dead.” If you haven’t, here’s a summary: A member of…

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What is Dirty Energy?

What is Dirty Energy?

By: Institute for Policy Studies and International Rivers The Green Climate Fund must be a vehicle for a fundamental shift in global energy lending to ensure a transformation to low-carbon and climate-resilient energy sources that are universally accessible for all people by 2030. We call on the Green Climate Fund not to finance dirty energy. But…

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Human Rights and Kyoto’s Carbon Offsetting Scheme

Human Rights and Kyoto’s Carbon Offsetting Scheme

By: Katy Yan Update: Twelve civil society organizations, including International Rivers, have sent letters to the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the UN Independent Expert on Human Rights and the Environment urging them to conduct formal investigations into the human rights impacts of the Barro Blanco dam located on the Tabasará River in Panama. The…

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Small Hydro a Potential Bridge for Africa’s Energy Divide

Small Hydro a Potential Bridge for Africa’s Energy Divide

By: Wim Jonker Klunne Africa is home to one of the world’s largest off-grid populations: approximately 590 million people live with no connection to their national electric grid, according to the International Energy Agency. Grid expansion in Africa has been notoriously slow, and thus new solutions are needed to bridge this energy divide. Small hydropower can play a pivotal role…

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