Peter Bosshard

Healthy wetlands and other ecosystems are our best insurance against the vagaries of climate change, a new report by Wetlands International argues. The organization works with village groups around the world to restore the Inner Niger Delta and other critical ecosystems. Will a new project by the World Bank now undermine these efforts?

Norway is one of the last countries which still fund hydropower dams with development aid. In an in-depth evaluation, the country’s Auditor General has concluded that this aid doesn’t benefit the poor. Given Norway’s role in the sector, the finding is of global importance.

The typical cost overruns of large dams are so big that these projects don't make economic sense. This is the conclusion of a major new study by a team of Oxford researchers. Will energy planners take note?

Under mounting pressure from local and international NGOs, the World Bank has just postponed a decision on the Inga 3 project. The time-out offers the chance for a new start that better addresses the country’s needs.

At a meeting with donor governments in Moscow, the World Bank raised a whopping $52 billion in contributions today. The governments ignored critique about the Bank’s role in degrading ecosystems and impoverishing local communities, but civil society groups will have a chance to hold the Bank to account and reverse the decision next year.

Nelson Mandela passed away today, on December 5. Through the World Commission on Dams report, his life-long commitment to human rights dignity briefly shone a light on our own modest work on rivers and dams.

Climate change is bringing more extreme floods and droughts. Floodplains, marshes, dunes, reefs and mangrove forests - often referred to as green infrastructure or bioshields - are vital to making our societies more climate resilient in the face of extreme weather events. Large dams built today not only weaken the climate resilience of riverine ecosystems, but are themselves highly vulnerable to a changing climate.

In spite of numerous reforms, the World Bank continues to support environmental destruction through its projects. A new book explores why the world's most powerful development financier does not seem to be able to learn from its mistakes.

The staggering growth in renewable energy has the potential to fundamentally change the way we generate and use power. Previously dismissed as marginal technologies, renewables have become “increasingly mainstream and competitive with conventional energy sources.” This is the conclusion of a new report on the global status of renewable energies by the REN21 Network.

The Chinese government has issued environmental guidelines for Chinese overseas investors. They are not binding, but they express expectations for which NGOs that are faced with Chinese overseas projects can hold companies to account.

China Development Bank has prepared the blueprint and business plan for China's rapid economic transformation. As the bank becomes the lender to the world, it needs to address the dark sides of its development model.

California counts some of the nation's most beautiful rivers and dreadful reservoirs within her borders. Can you imagine a river trip from the Yosemite Valley to the Central Valley dams through the eyes of a tiny water molecule? Will Yanopah, our little river traveler, ever reach the San Francisco Bay?

China has made great efforts to support poverty reduction in Africa, and likes to present itself as a friend of the African people. A new report warns that its loans for the Gibe III Dam and irrigation projects on the Omo River now threaten to pull China into an explosive regional conflict between well-armed groups in Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan.

Renewable energy solutions are not only good for the environment. If done well, they can pay for themselves and reduce poverty around the world. This is the message of the 2012 Ashden Awards, which just recognized inspiring renewable energy programs from Afghanistan, Cambodia, East Africa, India and Indonesia.