April 30, 2020 – Today, International Rivers joined 265 civil society groups around the world in calling upon the Chinese government to ensure that COVID-19 related financial relief for struggling Belt and Road projects flows only to high-quality overseas investments that meet stringent criteria aimed at protecting people and safeguarding the environment. The organizations urged China to…
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Guest blog by Gokce Sencan Gokce Sencan, a Turkish water policy researcher based in California, shares the experience from her recent visit to the ancient town of Hasankeyf along the Tigris River in southeastern Turkey. Hasankeyf, which has been continuously inhabited for the last 12,000 years, is slowly being drowned as the reservoir behind the…
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By: 276 civil society organizations On behalf of 276 civil society organizations from around the world, we are calling upon the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) to abandon the certification of destructive hydropower projects as climate-friendly. The proposed hydropower criteria developed by CBI and its technical working group fall far short of acceptable standards and practice, and…
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One year ago today, on 23 July 2018, Saddle Dam of the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower project in Attapeu Province, Laos, collapsed. The dam collapse unleashed a disaster with transboundary implications in which dozens of people were killed and thousands of residents were driven from their homes. We offer our thoughts and prayers for the 49…
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New report calls on developers, banks and insurers to ensure full compensation and restitution for victims, who remain in dire conditions facing an uncertain future FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Bangkok, July 23, 2019 – One year after the devastating collapse of saddle dam D of the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy hydropower project in southern Laos, none of the…
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By: Africa Program On the occasion of the visit of African Development Bank (AfDB) President Akinwumi Adesina to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), International Rivers calls on the institution to withdraw its support from the Inga 3 Dam. President Adesina was scheduled to visit the Inga site on Wednesday, June 19 as part of…
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By: Michael Simon There is no defensible way to continue damming the world’s rivers. That was the message that a powerful uprising of individuals, NGOs and social movements delivered to the World Hydropower Congress last week. (It’s not too late to lend your voice here.) Civil Society Constructively Challenges the World Hydropower Congress 9 MAY 2019 from Todd…
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By: Civil Society Organizations The False Promises of Hydropower How dams fail to deliver the Paris Climate Agreement and the UNA Joint Statement by Civil Society Organizations on the occasion of the Sustainable Development Goals 2019 World Hydropower Congress in Paris, France We live in an age of urgency. Scientists have warned that we have little…
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By: Rudo Sanyanga, former Africa Program Director & Ange Asanzi, former Africa Campaign Coordinator On October 16, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government announced a 14 billion USD joint and exclusive development agreement with a consortium of Chinese and European developers to construct the Inga 3 hydroelectric dam, following years of delay and controversy….
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By: Josh Klemm, Policy Director Last month, after a long-running saga, the World Bank signed away its legal obligation to protect Uganda’s Kalagala Falls, a site of immense spiritual and biodiversity value near the headwaters of the Nile River. By granting Ugandan authorities permission to flood Kalagala, the Bank has harmed thousands of local people…
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Since his election in 2012, World Bank President Jim Kim has trumpeted the Bank’s return to large hydropower including so-called “transformational” mega-dams. Kim himself championed the controversial Inga 3 Dam, the first phase of an extremely ambitious suite of dams envisioned on the Congo River. This marked a new chapter in the Bank’s support for…
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