Category: <span>Essential Publications</span>

International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Forces the Hydropower Industry to Build New Dams in Protected Areas?!!!

International Hydropower Association Reveals “Good Practice” Guide for (Damming) Protected Areas It looks like the hydropower industry is getting on nerves of the big international NGOs (BINGOs) who have “cooperated” with the IHA for a decade in common search for “sustainable hydropower”. And there was a good reason for that …

Hydropower Policy BRIef: Part III. PERSISTENT PROBLEMS IN HYDROPOWER DEVELOPMENT IN THE CHAMPION COUNTRIES

(Full Contents of Hydropower Policy BRIef here) Unfortunately, modest development of greenfield hydropower in 2020 again came at the cost of destruction of irreplaceable natural areas and suffering of local communities in countries where those dams have been built. It also often exacerbated transboundary tensions, fuelled corruption and economic crisis. …

DECLARATION FOR RIVERS AND CLIMATE

[Note: Additional organizational endorsements are accepted at https://bit.ly/3hRUsGL] September 21, 2021 To: -Alok Sharma, the 2021 President of the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties -Parties to the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP-26) A Declaration: Climate mitigation efforts must reject so-called “sustainable hydropower” as a solution to combat climate change …

Hydropower Policy BRIef: Part II. HYDROPOWER INSTALLED IN 2020 AND TRENDS BEHIND IT

(Full Contents of Hydropower Policy BRIef here) Our analysis for 2020 is based on two annual reports: “Renewable Capacity Statistics 2021”[1] by IRENA and “Status of Hydropower Report” by the International Hydropower Association (IHA). We reviewed data on the countries adding more than 100 MW, according to at least one …

Hydropower Policy BRIef: Global Trends in 2020. Part I

Dedicated to the 2021 World Hydropower Congress, this Brief provides a review of hydropower development in 2020 and rich statistics on hydropower in the 21 century. It notes a modest role of hydropower in renewable energy (RE) revolution, global decline in annual hydropower expansion for the last 7 years. Section …

World Heritage as a “No Go” Zone for Investment in Industry and Infrastructure

Dams threatening Lake Baikal and five other iconic areas are featured in a new report by Friends of the Earth US “World Heritage Forever? How Banks Can Protect the World’s Most Iconic Cultural and Natural Sites”. The report is examining how the international banking sector lacks strong policies and practices …