19% of India's Global Warming Emissions From Large Dams

Press Release, May 18, 2007 by South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, www.sandrp.in

Latest scientific estimates show that large dams in India are responsible for about a fifth of the countries' total global warming impact. The estimates also reveal that Indian dams are the largest global warming contributors compared to all other nations. This estimate by Ivan Lima and colleagues from Brazil's National Insitute for Space Research was recently published in a peer-reviewed journal.

"It is unfortunate that Lima's study has come too late to be included in the recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)," says Patrick McCully, Director of the International Rivers Network. "Climate policy makers have largely overlooked the importance of dam-generated methane. The IPCC urgently needs to address this issue."