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World Rivers Review, October/December 2005 Five years ago, the World Commission on Dams – on which I served as one of 12 commissioners – culminated with the release of our report, Dams and Development. I find it a useful exercise to pause and reflect on one’s work, to understand its impacts, to examine your hopes or disappointments, and to simply sift through memories once the daily frenzy of actually doing the work is past. The WCD's fifth anniversary has been the occasion for me to reflect. The mandate given to the WCD was an enormous challenge: evaluate the “development ef

Energy Efficiency is Cheaper, Cleaner, Smarter than Other Options, Say Experts World Rivers Review, October/December 2005 “I believe the world needs only half as many new power plants as it thinks it does,” exclaims Art Rosenfeld, a founder of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) and a founding father of the energy efficiency movement. A lively septuagenarian with decades of experience in the energy field, Rosenfeld was addressing a recent ACEEE conference in Berkeley, California, where he was joined by dozens of speakers armed with statistics-rich case studie

When the difficulty Of the mountains is once behind That's when you'll see The difficulty of the plains will start. -Bertholt Brecht Five years ago, former South African water minister Kader Asmal banged a lectern in a London conference center and declared the World Commission on Dams  “decommissioned.” The winding up of the commission after 30 months of work was a moment of tremendous satisfaction for International Rivers and our colleagues around the world. We had worked for years to push the World Bank and other dam backers to set up such an independent review body

Record-Breaking Dam Building Boom Could Make Free-Flowing Rivers an Endangered Species World Rivers Review, August 2005 For 20 years, International Rivers has focused a bright light on some of China's most controversial dam projects. For most of those years, it was difficult for Chinese citizens to organize around the issue of large dams or speak out against specific projects. But in recent years, a number of NGOs in China have begun to take on the role of monitoring China's dam plans – perhaps the most extensive river-engineering plan in the history of the world. Author Ma J

A sea change is needed to get solar power widely distributed in Africa. An article by a solar expert in Kenya, from World Rivers Review, December 2006. Mark Hankins I was struck recently by an industry graph showing global demand growth for solar photovoltaics (PV). It revealed sharply rising sales in Europe, America, Japan and China – but Africa sales didn’t even register. In the heady early days of PV market growth, Africa was an important market and there was much talk about how PV would help solve the low access to power throughout rural areas of the continent. Today, Africa does no

WRR is the foremost international publication devoted to river issues and appropriate freshwater management. We welcome submissions from activists, academics, journalists, project–affected people and others who are involved in the struggle to save rivers from destructive projects. Past issues can be downloaded from the web site. What Issues Are We Interested In? A primary focus is the impacts of large dams, channelization projects and diversion schemes (e.g., river engineering works) – but we are always looking for articles on good water management, community work around river issues

At a time when the Burmese military regime has come under increasing international pressure following a violent attack on pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters, the Asian Development Bank is promoting a massive power grid fueled by hydropower dams in Burma, China and Laos - all places where public opposition is stifled. The power grid plan was unveiled just weeks after at least 70 people, mostly youth activists, were killed in the May 30 attack on Suu Kyi''s motorcade, according to eyewitness accounts. Read the full article.

Opinion piece by Dr. Chris Greacen published in the Bangkok Post that outlines why the Mekong Power Grid is risky for electricity consumers in the region. Electricity rate payers in the entire Mekong region are being signed up for a risky scheme involving a US$1.2 billion (THB 48 billion) transmission system that will link Thailand with its Mekong region neighbors. The benefits from this gamble, if there are any, are likely to flow to investors, but if you are an electricity customer in Thailand, Vietnam, Yunnan, Laos, Cambodia or Burma the bill is guaranteed to be sent to you. On the 4th and

Nearly 100 delegates representing government, the private sector, NGOs, affected communities, utilities and others came together on October 13–14 for the fourth and final forum of the South African Multi–Stakeholder Initiative on the World Commission on Dams in Johannesburg. The objectives of this Initiative were to broadly contextualize the WCD report and to make recommendations on its implementation in South Africa. The multi–stakeholder method promoted a collaborative and consensual response. The group’s final report is expected to be ready for distribution in early 2005. South

From September 2007 World Rivers Review Country's Economic Expansion Adds to Pressure on World's Rivers On August 27, Miloon Kothari, the UN Special Rapporteur on Housing Rights, sounded an alarm on human rights abuses over Sudan's Merowe and Kajbar dam projects. "I have received numerous reports of violations of civil and political rights," Kothari warned. The violations included "the shooting of unarmed demonstrators, arbitrary arrests of activists, and repressive measures against the press." The UN Reporter called on all actors involved in Merowe a