Rulings loom as UNGA meets on biodiversity OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA—A new report by the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, Earth Law Center, and International Rivers finds that a movement to grant legal rights to rivers and nature is rapidly gaining momentum globally. The report examines how the ancient notion that nature possesses basic rights…
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By: Bruce Shoemaker, Klamath Project Liaison The proposed removal of four aging dams on the Klamath River in far-northern California and southern Oregon is at a crucial juncture. Following sustained campaigning by tribal and environmental groups, what is likely the largest proposed dam removal project to date world-wide, one that has huge implications for the…
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By: Toon Bijnens, Save the Tigris and Iraqi Marshes Campaign Mesopotamia is one of the regions most severely affected by water scarcity in the world. It is currently seeing an increased competition over water resources, and the construction of disruptive megaprojects continues: Iraq, in particular, faces huge challenges. Ilisu Dam in Turkey and Daryan Dam in…
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By: National River Protection Network (2020) On February 25 and 26 we have met at the Antonio Ruiz de Montoya University in Lima, defenders of the rivers: Nanay in Loreto, Huallaga in Ucayali, Mashcón and Jequetepeque in Cajamarca, Apurímac in Cusco, Marañón in Amazonas and Rímac in Lima to discuss the need for a policy…
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By: Bruce Shoemaker, Klamath Project Liaison After decades of controversy and campaigning by Indigenous and environmental groups, the largest dam removal project to date world-wide is moving forward in far-northern California and southern Oregon of the United States. Four large hydropower dams on the Klamath River are to be removed, restoring hundreds of miles of habitat…
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Permanent protections for free-flowing rivers need to be a centerpiece of every country’s national climate action plan. Chile can lead the way. Originally published on the New York Times, 12/29/2019 By: Macarena Soler, Monti Aguirre and Juan Pablo Orrego Macarena Soler is the founder of Geute Conservación Sur, Monti Aguirre is the Latin America program coordinator of International…
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By: Josh Klemm, Policy Director Originally posted on Mongabay This July represents a critical opportunity to protect rivers and the World Heritage sites that depend on them. Key government leaders will converge on Baku, Azerbaijan for the 43rd annual meeting of the World Heritage Committee this week. Established under the auspices of the United Nations…
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By: Sam Smith, Nathan Fritz Bank of China – financed Batang Toru dam threatens the Tapanuli Orangutan’s shrinking forest home In 2020, China will host the biannual meeting of the Assembly of the Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), a multilateral treaty that commits its signatories to developing strategies to conserve and sustainably use the…
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By: Pianporn Deetes, Thailand and Myanmar Campaigns Director This article originally appeared in The Nation. As a new year dawns, the waters of the Mekong River remain turbulent with uncertainty. While many take holidays and prepare for the new year, the people of the Mekong face an unknown future. Earlier this month, residents along the Mekong…
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Today, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee took the decision to officially inscribe Lake Turkana as a World Heritage site “in danger” because of severe impacts caused by the Gibe 3 Dam, constructed upstream on Ethiopia’s Omo River. The dam and associated sugar plantations have severely restricted flows into Kenya’s Lake Turkana, the world’s largest desert lake. “We…
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The Brahmaputra River has repeatedly been the centre ground of diplomatic hostility between China, India and Bangladesh. With no transboundary treaty or common understanding between the countries sharing the river, downstream countries have repeatedly raised concerns that China, the upstream riparian country, would dam and divert the glacial meltwaters that are crucial not only for…
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