Rivers without Boundaries

Rogun Dam Study Ignores Key Risks, Threatens Regional Stability

The transboundary impact assessment for Tajikistan’s Rogun Hydropower Plant (HPP) fails to meet World Bank environmental and social standards and contains fundamental shortcomings, according to a new report by the international environmental coalition Rivers without Boundaries. The assessment relies on outdated data from 2014 and uses static models that do …

A major weakening of nature conservation laws in Russia

At the end of 2025, the Russian government and legislature undertook an unprecedented attempt to weaken key nature conservation laws. After two years of intense debate, the ‘Law on the Protection of Lake Baikal’ was amended by the Russian State Duma on 9 December 2025 and signed by the President …

World Bank’s Executive Directors block investigation of the Rogun HPP Project despite the advice of their own Inspection Panel

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has declined to open an investigation into potential environmental and social risks linked to the construction of the Rogun Hydropower Plant in Tajikistan. The decision was reported in a press release published by the environmental NGO Rivers Without Boundaries. As a result, the financial institution chose not to review a complaint filed by residents of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan …

Converting Lives into Kilowatts: Resettlement Plans for Rogun HPP Project Threaten Tens of Thousands of People

“Rogun Alert”, a coalition of concerned CSOs, has analyzed the Resettlement Action Plan and Livelihood Restoration Plan (RAP-2 and LRP-2) for the Rogun HPP construction project. In their analytical report CSOs have identified serious shortcomings in the documentation that could negatively affect tens of thousands of people. The project to …

Tajikistan hit by an ice bomb: Melting glaciers threaten dams in Central Asia

Source: Rivers.Help! October 30, 2025 In the Tajikabad district of Tajikistan, a large mass of ice broke off from the glacier at the top of Ismoil Somoni peak. According to preliminary estimates, the size of the ice block is about two kilometers long, 25 meters high and up to 200 …

Pitfalls of the Rogun Hydro: What fate awaits the people resettled from the inundation zone?

The Rogun HPP construction project in Tajikistan, in its current form, involves the forced resettlement of up to 60,000 local residents from the inundation zone. These people must leave their homes and their land to start a new life from scratch. Proponents of the project insist that this is the …