The World Bank Under Pressure on Dam Projects
The World Bank has made a push recently to become a lead actor in responding to climate change, an emphasis that the environmental community has mostly welcomed. But not all is well between the Bank and environmental activists. Writing in the Guardian‘s Environment blog, Peter Bosshard worries that the lender appears headed back to what ...
The World Bank has made a push recently to become a lead actor in responding to climate change, an emphasis that the environmental community has mostly welcomed. But not all is well between the Bank and environmental activists. Writing in the Guardian's Environment blog, Peter Bosshard worries that the lender appears headed back to what he sees as misguided and often destructive dam projects:
The World Bank has made a push recently to become a lead actor in responding to climate change, an emphasis that the environmental community has mostly welcomed. But not all is well between the Bank and environmental activists. Writing in the Guardian‘s Environment blog, Peter Bosshard worries that the lender appears headed back to what he sees as misguided and often destructive dam projects:
Following a trend set by new financiers from China and Brazil, the World Bank now wants to return to supporting mega-dams that aim to transform whole regions. In March, it argued that such projects could "catalyse very large-scale benefits to improve access to infrastructure services" and combat climate change at the same time. Its board of directors will discuss the return to mega-dams as part of a new energy strategy on Tuesday.
The World Bank has identified the $12bn (£8bn) Inga 3 Dam on the Congo River – the most expensive hydropower project ever proposed in Africa – and two other multi-billion dollar schemes on the Zambezi River as illustrative examples of its new approach.
David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist
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