Dams

International Rivers Network call on World Bank to adopt World Commission on Dams recommendations

Five years after its publication, the World Commission on Dams recommendations are influencing various governments, financial institutions and communities around the world.  IRN call on the World Bank which walked away from the report, despite being one of the original sponsors of the Commission, to review its aggressive new dam-building strategy in line with WCD guidelines.

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Celebrating 20 years of Resistance against the Narmada Dam

The people of the Narmada Valley have been fighting against the Narmada Dam for the past 20 years. The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) became one of the first peoples movements to take on the World Bank, forcing it to conduct an independent review in 1992 which led to it pulling out. The struggle continues as the Indian government continues to build the dam with taxpayers money.

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Civil Society Welcomes HSBCs Decision on Dams

HSBC, one of the world's largest banks, has announced a new freshwater policy.  They will no longer lend money on dams that do not comply with the recommendations of the World Commission on Dams.

"HSBC's announcement is excellent news for everyone who wants to see socially just and ecologically sustainable solutions to the world's water and energy needs. Now its time for other financial institutions to step up to the plate and follow HSBC's example," says Patrick McCully, Executive Director of International Rivers Network.

In 2000 the World Commission on Dams made a comprehensive set of recommendations on water, energy planning and management. FAN and WWF co-organised a multi-stakeholder seminar on the WCD 2003 attended by HSBC. 

Link to WCD

The World Commission on Dams

The WCD was an independent, international, multi-stakeholder process which addressed the controversial issues associated with large dams. The Commission completed its work with the launch of its final report in November 2000 and disbanded. The report itself was highly critical of the impacts of large dams, the main conclusions are outlined below.

WCDs Main Conclusions

• Large dams have failed to produce as much electricity, provide as much water, or control as much flood damage as their sponsors claim
• Large dams suffer massive cost-overruns and time delays
• Many large dams have proven to be uneconomic, even before accounting for their social and environmental costs
• Better technologies are available to provide the benefits claimed for large dams
• Large dams have huge social and environmental impacts, and efforts to mitigate these impacts have been largely unsuccessful
• Reservoirs can be significant emitters of greenhouse gases
• The benefits of large dams have largely gone to the already well-off while poorer sectors of society have borne the costs

WCDs Main Recommendations

• Comprehensive and participatory needs assessments and options assessments for meeting these needs should be developed before detailed studies are done on any specific project.
• Priority should be given to demand side management measures and optimizing the performance of existing infrastructure before building any new projects.
• No dam should be built without the consent or acceptance of affected people.
• Periodic participatory reviews should be done for existing dams to assess issues including dam safety, and the possibility

World Bank Response to WCD Report

The World Bank was one of the original sponsors of the project stating that it will use the report as a valuable reference to inform its decision-making process. However, according to the International Rivers Network (IRN) the Bank has so far refused to adopt any of the WCD recommendations into its binding policies and indeed is apparently renewing its promotion of large dams.

How you can use the WCD report

The WCD guidelines do not constitute international law, and its recommendations are not binding on any institution. Its is up to NGOs to pressure governments, companies and funding institutions to comply with recommendations.

International Rivers Network has just published a French translation of the Citizens Guide to the World Commission on Dams. The guide is also available on IRN's website.

FAN and WCD process

In January 2003, FAN co-organised with WWF-UK, a seminar and consultation meeting in London on the UK governments response to the WCD. It was a multi-stakeholder meeting, but hosted by NGOs. Participants came from the financial sector, industry, academics, NGOs and the public sector. The UK is a major player in dam building via the dam-building industry, private banks and via overseas development assistance.

Several FAN members are active campaigners and researchers on large dams in their countries.

Seminar proceedings "World Commission on Dams - two years on: a seminar for UK stakeholders"