Rivers without Boundaries

Russian Elite Profiteering Enables Destruction of Lake Baikal Ecosystems and Fuels Public Outrage

  A review of reactions of Russian press and public to “Chinese business expansion” at Lake Baikal World Heritage Site, published by  Eurasia Daily Monitor, captures  several important topics discussed today and highlights one of major underlying reasons – deep corruption of Russian officialdom all  he way down to local …

Big Damage From Small Hydro in the Last Wilderness of Europe

Hundreds of new hydropower projects are planned in the Western Balkans, as investors sought to take advantage of the huge and relatively untapped water resources in the region. Now, however, public sentiment is turning against these investments and several have been cancelled or put on hold. In the latest development …

Bureya Hydropower Reservoir Operations Likely Triggered the Giant Landslide which Russian Army is Ordered to Blast.

The last year ended up with a  massive landslide blocking hydropower reservoir on Bureya River. Since the RwB reported on the issue last year considerable attention of national authorities and international media was drawn to it. Many politicians have participated in crisis-solving making this somewhat reminiscent of parallel  drama of …

Strategic Hydropower Assessment at the Roof of the World

Nepal’s hydropower boom needs strategic assessment and public oversight Children crossing a bridge across Budhi Gandaki River in Arughat, Nepal (Photo by Eugene Sim0nov) Prologue: A tale of two dams In 2017, I visited 1,200 MW Budhi Gandaki hydropower project, 70 kilometers from Kathmandu, and found many similarities with the …

GEIDCO: a Harbinger of Equitable Green Future or a Salesman of China’s Excess Industrial Capacity?

  Can one promote great common good on behalf of association of companies from 80 countries and then immediately extract tangible private gain from it? Please, be patient – read a string  of news covering first 3 weeks of December. UN DESA shows commitment to climate action at COP24 The …

Pitfalls of the Mid-term Energy Program of Mongolia

The new Mid-term Energy Program of Mongolia disregards financial, environmental and climate commitments – may increase significantly Mongolia’s debt and carbon footprint. For a country that just narrowly escaped financial default[1], the new energy mid—term program of Mongolia (2018- 2023) suggesting to increase current debt burden by borrowing USD 4.0 …