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…
Read More
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….
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
By: Tanya Lee The blockade to stop the Baram Hydroelectric Dam in Sarawak, Malaysia from being built is now entering into its 21st month, standing as a testament to the strength, determination and hope of thousands of women and men, prepared to go up against all odds. Up to 20,000 indigenous people, known collectively as the…
Read More
By: Peter Bosshard, former Executive Director “We find that even before accounting for negative impacts on human society and environment, the actual construction costs of large dams are too high to yield a positive return,” a new report states. “Large dams also take inordinately long periods of time to get built, making them ineffective in resolving urgent energy…
Read MoreBy Katy Yan, Former China Program Coordinator Originally featured in World Rivers Review (June 2013) More than half of the rivers previously thought to exist in China appear to be missing, according to China’s “First National Water Census Bulletin” published in March. Only 22,909 rivers were located by surveyors, compared with the more than 50,000…
Read More