Climate Change

The Greenhouse Development Rights Framework

Thursday, May 8, 2008
Tom Athanasiou of EcoEquity discusses how a global deal to achieve drastic emission cuts might be brokered. The presentation is from International Rivers' fundraising lunch on May 8, 2008.

Danny Kennedy on Local Solar

Thursday, May 8, 2008
Danny Kennedy, President and CXO of the solar energy start-up Sungevity, shares his insight on how California can lead the clean energy revolution during the International Rivers fundraising lunch on May 8, 2008.

A New Climate for Water Planners

Tuesday, March 25, 2008
March 2008 World Rivers Review The central assumption governing the design and operation of all major water projects has just been declared dead by a group of leading water and climate scientists. Designers and builders of dams need take note.The scientists, led by Paul Milly of the US Geological Service, explained in a recent article in Science that our dams, floodwalls and sewers have been designed and operated under the assumption of "stationarity" - that natural systems fluctuate within a defined set of extremes that can be estimated from past experience. But climate change means "stationa

Letter to Buyers of CDM Credits from Chinese Hydros

Wednesday, December 19, 2007
(A similar letter has been sent to the following buyers of carbon credits from Chinese hydros: ENEL, EDF Trading Limited, ICECAP, CAMS AB Sweden, RWE Power AG, MGM Carbon Portfolio, Kommunalkredit, EcoSecurities, Energy Systems International, Eco Energia, Endesa Generacion SA, CDCF, Factor Consulting, IXIS, Int System Energy Corporation, Arreon Carbon, Sindicatum Carbon Capital International, KfW, Ecoinvest, ICF, ESI BV, WBCF, CCAN) Berkeley/BerlinMarco MonroyPresident & CEOMGM Carbon PortfolioLuxembourgVia e-mail: marcogmonroy@mgminter.comDear Marco Monroy:We note that you intend to obta

The Aluminum Can's Dirty Little Secret

Wednesday, May 17, 2006
International Rivers Network, Container Recycling Institute press release CONTACT: Jenny Gitlitz, CRI Research Dir., Dalton, MA (413) 684.4746Pat Franklin, CRI Executive Dir., Washington, DC (703) 276.9800Glenn Switkes, IRN Latin America Dir., São Paulo, Brazil 011.55.11.3822.4157Peter Bosshard, IRN Policy Dir., Berkeley, CA (510) 848.1155 The Aluminum Can’s Dirty Little Secret: On-going Environmental Harm Outpaces the Metal’s “Green” BenefitsWASHINGTON, DCIndustry “greenwashing” obscures the real environmental costs of aluminum production, according to the Container Recycling Ins

Failed Mechanism: How the CDM is Subsidizing Hydro Developers and Harming the Kyoto Protocol

Sunday, December 2, 2007
The Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is set to provide massive subsidies to hydropower developers while increasing greenhouse gas emissions, according to an investigation by International Rivers. As of November 1, 2007, 654 hydro projects had received or applied to receive carbon credits from the CDM. If approved, these credits would provide hydro developers with a windfall of around a billion dollars each year. Hydro is now the most common technology in the CDM, representing a quarter of all projects in the project pipeline.International Rivers' report, "Failed Mechanism: Ho

A Bibliography of Key Scientific Articles and Publications on Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Dams and Reservoirs

Thursday, November 30, 2006
April, G. et al. (2005) ‘Carbon dioxide and methane emissions and the carbon budget of a 10-year old tropical reservoir (Petit Saut, French Guiana),’ Global Biogeochemical Cycles 19. Bambace, L.A.W. et al. (2006) ‘Mitigation and recovery of methane emissions from tropical hydroelectric dams,’ Energy 32:6. Barros, N. et al. (2011) 'Carbon emission from hydroelectric reservoirs linked to reservoir age and latitude,' Nature Geoscience Letters online. Bastviken, D. et al. (2004) ‘Methane emissions from lakes: Dependence of lake characteristics, two regional assessments, and a global esti

Letter to CDM Executive Board On Non-Additional Chinese Hydros

Friday, October 12, 2007
Barbara HayaConsultant, International RiversPhD Candidate, University of California, Berkeleybhaya@berkeley.eduHans Jürgen StehrChair CDM Executive BoardCDM SecretariatCDMinfo@unfccc.intOctober 12, 2007 RE: Concerns about the large number of Chinese hydropower projects currently undergoing CDM validation Dear Hans Jürgen Stehr and other members of the CDM Executive Board,I am writing to express my serious concerns about the hundreds of hydropower projects from China currently entering and progressing through the CDM pipeline. Evidence strongly suggests that a majority of these projects are n

Memo to DNV on CDM Validation for Sondu-Miriu Large Hydro (Kenya)

Construction of the Sondu-Miriu Dam water tunnel.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Current Status: Validation Negative (as of Aug 2009) To: Members of the validation team for the Sondu Miriu Hydro Power Project in Kenya, DNVFrom: Bryan Ashe, Earthlife Africa eThekwini, South AfricaLiane Greeff, Environmental Monitoring Group, South AfricaBarbara Haya, University of California, Berkeley and International RiversBetty Obbo, African Rivers Network, UgandaRe: Information relevant to the validation of the Sondu Miriu Hydro Project, KenyaDear members of the validation team,We would like to alert you to some information about the Sondu Miriu Hydro Power Project in Kenya that is not

Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Dams FAQ

Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Frequently Asked Questions: Greenhouse Gas Emissions from DamsQ: What is the contribution of dams to global warming?According to the most detailed estimate available, done by Ivan Lima and colleagues from Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE), the world's large dams emit 104 million metric tonnes of methane annually from reservoir surfaces, turbines, spillways and rivers downstream (1). This implies that dam methane emissions are responsible for at least 4% of the total warming impact of human activities. No one has yet calculated the total climate impact of dams, which would i

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