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In the six months since our last CDM large hydro status note, the World Bank has continued to unveil new CDM large hydro projects of questionable additionality - including the largest hydro project in its carbon portfolio to date. None of these projects have demonstrated compliance with the recommendations of the World Commission on Dams. The World Bank continues to cling to the fiction that all of the projects are "small hydro".

My comments are limited to those portions of the Environmental Assessment Report that deal with issues relating to the peoples who live in the impacted area of the Lower Cunene River, chiefly the Himba. Both international law and recognized professional standards require a very elaborate programme of study, consultation, careful scoping out of potential negative impacts on affected people’s lives, and a social mitigation programme for this Feasibility Study. This Report simply does not do this, a point conceded on page 2 of the Executive Summary. Hence, the Environmental Assessment Report of

Stop the Hutiaoxia Dam! In the renewed hydropower boom in southwest China, Hutiaoxia (Tiger Leaping Gorge) dam is the leading project in the plans for a cascade of dams on the Jinsha River (Upper Yangtze River). Recently, Yunnan Province even designated the dams as the supplementary water source for Kunming area, hoping the water from the Jinsha River can be used to flush away pollution in Dianchi Lake. With support from both hydropower authority and provincial government, the Hutiaoxia dam is rapidly going ahead. We now call on authorities to address the cultural, social and environmental

In its 2005 annual meeting, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee expressed its "grave concern on the impacts that the proposed construction of dams could have" on the Three Parallel Rivers World Heritage Area and downstream communities, and stated that any dam construction within the World Heritage property "would provide a case for inclusion of the property in the List of World Heritage in Danger." The Committee will send a monitoring mission to the property in 2006 to evaluate the situation. Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas (China)The World Heritage Committee Decision 29 COM 7B

Fact SheetsNonexistent node nid: 846. Fact sheet on the project produced in October 2006. Also available in Nonexistent node nid: 847. . Mphanda Nkuwa Dam: A Risky Proposition Read International Rivers’s fact sheet February 2004. Also available in Portuguese. PowerPoint PresentationsThe Inspiration of Xalala - Part 1 By Lucia Scodanibbio, Justiça Ambiental, 2004, (5MB!). Barack Obama and the River of Hope em Português: "Projecto de capacitação sobre desenvolvimentos hídricos e a Comissão Mundial das Barragens", by Justiça Ambiental, 2004, (3MB!). Press Releases:Nonexi

Press ReleasesNonexistent node nid: 980. More than 100 families were suddenly forced to abandon their homes on August 7 because of rising flood waters after the authorities unexpectedly closed the dam’s gates and began filling its reservoir. The families have been left without food or shelter, August 11, 2006. Nonexistent node nid: 979. In April 2006, the dam authorities carried out a massacre against people who are resisting displacement for the Merowe Dam. Read an International Rivers & LOHAP Press Release, April 22, 2006. Nonexistent node nid: 977. An independent review publ

Corruption is a widespread problem in the world of large dams. Massive corruption was discovered on the LHWP in 1999, when more than 12 multinational firms and consortiums were found to have bribed the CEO of the project. After the CEO himself was found guilty, three major European firms were put in the dock; thus far, two have been found guilty and charged, and one has been debarred at the World Bank.

General Nonexistent node nid: 844. 145–page report published by Transformation Resource Centre, Lesotho, June 2006. No Second Loan on LHWP Until Critical Data Is In The World Bank voted May 21, 1998 on a loan for the second dam in the LHWP. International Rivers sent this letter to urge the Bank to wait until all data on the controversial project is in, May 20, 1998. Lula Promises not to Shove Belo Monte Down Our Throats This letter from International Rivers and Environmental Defense urges the Bank to ensure that social and environmental problems from the fir

A Brief History of Africa’s Largest Water ProjectUpdated January 2005 ContentsThe WatershedThe ProjectSocial IssuesEnvironmental ImpactsWater Use in South AfricaProject TimelineThe WatershedThe Senqu (Orange) River originates in Lesotho, and forms the boundary between South Africa and Namibia before it enters the Atlantic Ocean. The five–dam Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) would divert about 40% of the water (called "white gold" by project authorities) in the Senqu river basin to South Africa’s Vaal river system in Gauteng Province. Water sales from the project are the country’s