Books

Evolution of dam policies: evidence from the big hydropower states

Scheumann, Waltina / Oliver Hensengerth (eds.)
Books (2014)

Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer

ISBN: 978-3-642-23402-6
Information

The World Commission on Dams (WCD) report (2000) “Dams and Development: A New Framework for Decision-Making” set a landmark in the ongoing controversy over large dams. Now that more than ten years have passed, one has to realize that the WCD norms matter but that their real chance of becoming implemented relies on whether their core values, strategic priorities and guidelines are accepted by national decision-makers and translated into official policies and practices.

The book’s major concern is whether the countries have improved their standards for environment and resettlement, and whether internal standards are applied or exist only on paper. The first chapter introduces our methodological approach, and in the last we answer the questions: Have the big hydropower states Brazil, China, India and Turkey changed their environmental and resettlement policies, why and to which extent? What role did the NGO network play in advocating against the Turkish Ilisu Dam project on the Tigris River? What are the strategies of International Rivers and World Wide Fund for Nature in the global hydropower game? How did the German government position in the global dam debate? And do Chinese actors more harm than western agencies when building the Bui Dam (Ghana) and the Kamchay Dam (Cambodia)?