BACKGROUND This report assesses the socio-economic impact of the Inga 3 dam with a particular focus on South African citizens and on women. It looks at the commercial case for the dam, comparing it on price with alternatives before weighing positive and negative social and environmental impacts against each other. Our report suggests that Inga…
Background Healthy rivers are critical in sustaining communities and ecosystems. Yet our rivers around the world are under threat. As many as 3,700 new dams have either been proposed or are already under construction. Despite the enormous diversity in size, scale and geography of new dams being built, a relatively small number of corporations are…
Africa’s great rivers have nourished some of the world’s most significant civilizations. They have shaped the rhythm of life for untold generations of riparian peoples, linking cultures across political borders. Unfortunately, from the Nile to the Zambezi, many of these rivers have been dammed, diverted, dredged and polluted in the name of meeting water and…
Justice, Finance, and Public Participation in Vietnam’s JETP Three Years On Overview A just energy transition is only credible if it is just in practice, not only in name. Three years after Vietnam’s Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) was agreed, a new report from International Rivers, built on years of monitoring with the Vietnam Climate…
International Rivers, alongside members and supporters of the Vietnam Climate Defenders Coalition, has joined this week in an open letter to the European Commission regarding the recent upgrade of diplomatic relations between the European Union and Vietnam. While the strengthened partnership signals growing cooperation on trade, climate, and energy, the letter raises urgent concerns about…
January 24, 2026 marks four years since environmental lawyer Dang Dinh Bach was sentenced to five years in prison in Vietnam. With significant time already served, and with Tết Lunar New Year – the Year of the Horse commencing on February 17 – this moment offers an important opportunity for amnesty and reunion. Bach was…
For 40 years, International Rivers has worked to ensure that victories for rivers don’t disappear with the next political cycle or development proposal. Our work is grounded in a simple but urgent idea: hard-won momentum must be transformed into lasting safeguards for rivers and the communities that depend on them. In 2025, this vision came…
November 2025 – Environmental defenders are on the frontlines of the climate crisis, yet across the world they face escalating threats—from violence and criminalization to exclusion from decisions that shape their futures. In a recent report to the UN Human Rights Council, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders said: “In their struggle to…
By Maureen Harris, Senior Advisor at International Rivers In our work around the world, International Rivers partners with people on the frontlines of ecological crisis, defending rivers, ecosystems, communities, and ways of life from destruction. For many we work with, their efforts are also a struggle for their own human rights and survival and that of…
Free-flowing rivers operate as the arteries of our planet. They connect high mountains to lush, food-generating lakes, deltas, and coasts. Free-flowing rivers help regulate natural carbon cycles and influence weather patterns. They evoke a sense of awe and provide food, freshwater, medicinal herbs, transportation, economic security, recreation, and more. Indigenous communities regard them as sacred,…
