Press Release

(São Paulo) Following an 18–month investigation of the troubled Yacyretá dam on the Paraguay–Argentina border, the World Bank’s Inspection Panel has concluded that the project violates four separate World Bank policies on 14 different counts. The policies cover environmental assessment, involuntary resettlement, and project supervision, monitoring and evaluation. This is the Inspection Panel’s second critical review of the Bank’s failure to comply with its own policies on Yacyretá, which received World Bank loans totaling $878 million between 1979 and 2002. T

Open Letter Sent to Government Urging Public Disclosure of EIA On August 31, a broad coalition of Chinese groups sent an open letter to the government urging public disclosure of environmental studies for the Nu River Hydropower Development Plan before the government decides to approve a series of at least four dams for the now free–flowing river. The letter reveals that Central Government agencies have reviewed the EIA of the revised Nu River Hydropower Development Plan and are planning to approve it in the coming months. The Nu River is one of only two undammed rivers in China and

A controversial dam project on a sacred lake in eastern Tibet has been scrapped by the Chinese authorities following concerns expressed by local Tibetans and Chinese environmentalists. "The decision on the Megoe Tso dam is a rare example of the government paying attention to local people’s concerns about the impact of major development projects in Tibetan areas," said Tashi Tsering, a specialist on the Tibetan environment at the University of British Columbia. "We are inspired by the exemplary efforts of the courageous local Tibetans and Chinese environmentalists who have

SAN FRANCISCO, April 24, 2006 Yu Xiaogang, the Founder and Director of Chinese NGO Green Watershed, will be awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize tonight for his pioneering work in protecting rivers and watersheds in China. Mr. Yu spent years creating groundbreaking watershed management programs while researching and documenting the social and environmental impacts of dams on riverine communities. His reports are considered a primary reason that the central government paid additional restitution to villagers displaced by existing dams and now requires social impact assessment

Vietnam’s ambitious Son La Hydropower Project could face serious problems if the government’s plan to resettle 100,000 mostly ethnic people is not carried out in a just and fair manner. So far more than 1,000 families have been moved away from the Da River to make way for the $2.3 billion dam. A host of problems have already emerged, according to a new study released by the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations (VUSTA) in association with International Rivers. The VUSTA report -- "A Work in Progress: Study on the Impacts of Vietnam’s Son La Hydropower Project"

Over half a million city residents, farmers, and fisher folk living at the mouth of the Salween River in Burma stand to lose their major source of drinking water, agricultural productivity, and fish stocks if dams planned upstream go ahead. In the Balance, a report released today by the Mon Youth Progressive Organization (MYPO), reveals how people living on the river’s banks, tributaries, and islands rely on the Salween estuary, where the fresh water of the Salween meets salt water of the Andaman Sea, and how their lives are intricately linked with the seasonal flows and daily tides of the r

Bangkok -- On February 28, 2007, 19 cities worldwide expressed solidarity in opposing the planned Salween Dams. Protests in front of Thai embassies/consulates were held in a number of cities, including Washington DC, Sydney, New Delhi, Essen, Paris, Jakarta, Auckland, and Manila, where a petition letter was submitted demanding the current Thai administration withdraw from plans to construct dams on the Salween River. On the same day, solidarity actions took place in Bangkok, London, Melbourne, Hanoi, and Tokyo. "The entire decision-making process ... has been shrouded in secrecy. There has bee

Karenni Development Research Group Threatened with plans by Burma’s generals to dam the Salween River and submerge vast tracts of their homelands, the Karenni are releasing a new report today which exposes the parallels between the devastating impacts of Burma’s first large scale hydropower project, built in their state, and those of the planned Salween dams. The report highlights the destructive mix of development and military rule in Burma. The report by the Karenni Development Research Group (KDRG), Dammed by Burma’s Generals, chronicles the impacts of the Lawpita hydropower pr

The Cordillera Peoples Alliance and TIMMAWA call on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo not to inaugurate the San Roque Dam, inspite of pressures from the Dam proponents and the so-called savings from the renegotiated contract. CPA claims that the operation of the San Roque dam remains a big financial burden to the Filipino people. Even under the renegotiated Power Purchase Agreement of this mega-dam project, the NPC/Phil government will have to pay the San Roque Power Corporation (SRPC) with a fixed cost (capacity and operating fees) of approximately US $ 10 million a month in addition to the e

Civil Society Responds to Chinese Funding for Mozambique Mega–Dam Mphanda Nkuwa Will Worsen Poverty, Harm Efforts to Restore Zambezi Delta The government of Mozambique announced last Friday, 21 April, that the Export–Import Bank of China has agreed to back the construction of the proposed Mphanda Nkuwa Dam, worth over US $2 billion. The financial agreement comes at great risk to Mozambique’s economy, environment, and people, for the benefit of foreign big business. Justiça Ambiental (JA!), a Mozambique–based organization, is urging its government to suspend all activity on the project