Rivers without Boundaries

Save the Lake Baikal – a victim of climate and hydropower

An appeal  to the Paris Climate Summit in from the Northeast Asia’s leading environmental groups and research institutions Many government and industry players market large hydropower, as a "solution for climate change", while in reality it often exacerbates climate change, impacts on resilience of aquatic ecosystems and diminishes the adaptation …

Baikal World Heritage, World Bank and Dams – Two Steps in Right Direction

World Bank Agreed That Arguments Against Dams In Selenge Basin Are Valid. -World Heritage Committee Requested Environmental Assessments – Will Mongolia listen? Baikal and Hydropower Lying in the heart of Siberia Lake Baikal fed by Selenge River is the oldest freshwater depository on Earth containing 20% of drinkable water of …

Can the World Heritage Convention save Lake Baikal from hydropower?

This session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) was crucial for the Lake Baikal: WHC had to decide whether to allow it to become a technocratic reservoir system managed primarily for hydropower in the interest of industry or it should be managed as a World Heritage site for the benefit …

People of Selenga-Baikal Basin address the World Bank Inspection Panel

People living in the basin of the Selenga river in Russia and Mongolia, together with a number of environmental NGOs, filed a petition to the World Bank Inspection Panel demanding that the feasibility studies of dangerous hydro-electric power plants (HPP) projects must be postponed and the WB MINIS project thoroughly …

“Our Common Geopolitical Language” Sounds Scary

People from throughout the world who love Mongolia, its rivers and local communities, are truly concerned with current new push to build hydropower dams on Mongolia’s majestic free-flowing rivers. This piece republished with permission of the author – Peter Fong – is a vivid evidence of such concerns. Way back …