-
World Water Day 2022 Student Event Recap
Continue readingOn World Water Day (March 22, 2022) students of the University of Manitoba in collaboration with Dam Watch International, organized and conducted an event – A Look Over Dams In Canada – to discuss the impacts of dams on the environment and communities across Canada. The students of UManitoba – Avneet Sidhu, Michael Lunn, Julie […]
-
Students’ Project Highlights Greenwashing Around the World
Continue readingFiona Lebar, Shaylyn Pelikys, and Eliza Maharjan, undergraduate students at the University of Manitoba, Canada, recently partnered with DWI to complete a course project on the greenwashing of hydroelectricity. The following is the summary report submitted by the students. — An analysis of the impacts of greenwashing hydroelectricity was conducted to explore what implications certain […]
-
Rejecting Dams as Climate Solutions at COP26
Continue readingThe 26th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) took place in Glasgow from 31st October to 13th November 2021. It is one of the most important climate summits in years which displayed the need to act against the forces contributing to climate change. Previous COPs have been criticized for not ‘listening to the science’, […]
-
Call for Contributors: Run-of-the-River Hydropower Dams
Continue readingCalling on researchers with particular knowledge and experience about so-called “run-of-the-river” dams to collaborate with Dr. Ian Baird and Dam Watch International on developing an in-depth article about how “run-of-the-river” hydropower dams have been promoted. Please read on below for more information. Cover photo: the Pak Mun dam, on the Mun River in Northeastern Thailand […]
-
Las Placetas Hydroelectric Complex Threatens Ecosystems and Communities in the Dominican Republic
Continue readingThe central mountains of the Dominican Republic- home to diverse flora and fauna and the highest peaks in the entire Caribbean- are under threat from the Las Placetas Hydroelectric Complex that the government has authorized. The dam is to be built in the Armando Bermudez National Park, accompanying three reservoirs and a series of connected […]
-
Canadian Senator Speaks on Behalf of Communities Calling for Accountability of Hydro
Continue readingOn December 14, 2021, Honourable Mary Jane McCallum spoke to fellow Canadian senators about the need to carefully consider the impacts of hydroelectricity in the context of calling for a climate emergency. Speaking on behalf of Wa Ni Ska Tan: Alliance of Hydro-Impacted Communities in Manitoba, she warned that hydroelectric development cannot be simply accepted as a […]
-
Proposed Lakhwar Project, India Will Affect at Least 50 Communities
Continue readingThe proposed dam involves a massive 204 m high dam on river Yamuna at a place called Lakhwar upstream of the Dehradun town with storage capacity of 580 Million Cubic meters, submergence area of 1385.2 ha, including 868.08 ha forest land, at least 50 villages to be affected by submergence of land in the upstream, […]
-
COP 26: A Double-edged sword for the territories of planet Earth
Continue readingCOP 26 has come to an end, the premier meeting on global climate change that was billed as the last chance to do things differently and save the planet from imminent extinction. The city of Glasgow at the beginning of November brought together the main government leaders and official decision-making delegates for global commitments, but […]
-
Perspectives from COP26
Continue readingI had the privilege of attending the 26th annual United Nations Climate Conference of the Parties (COP26) from November 5th to 12th. COP is a unique conference as it brings together scientists, NGOs and grassroots organizations, as well as politicians and other interested parties. Approximately 30,000 people representing roughly 200 countries came to COP26 all […]
-
The Invisibilized Costs of Hydroelectricity
Continue readingThe pristine river systems of the world have been dammed for various purposes like irrigation, hydroelectricity, and storing water in reservoirs for drinking purposes. Hydroelectricity is generated by the energy in a flowing river. The hydroelectric dams convert the potential energy stored in the water reservoirs into kinetic energy as the water flows through the […]
-
Belo Monte Dam has tripled greenhouse gases in the eastern Amazon
Continue readingBelo Monte hydroelectric dam on the Xingu River 2017, photo by Fernanda Brandt (CC) Research published in the Science Advances journal shows that greenhouse gases in the eastern Amazon have tripled after the construction of the Belo Monte dam. The study showed that “post damming greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in this dam area are […]
-
Groups Create San José Declaration Counter Statement
Continue readingDam Watch International, along with environmental and social justice organizations from around the world are proud to publish the following statement countering the claims of the “San José Declaration on Sustainable Hydropower” being presented at the 2021 World Hydropower Congress, hosted virtually by Costa Rica from September 7-24. In 2019, over 270 civil society organizations […]
-
Open Letter to the PM of India Regarding Unjustified Hydropower Development
Continue readingCivil Society Organizations and researchers in India have written an open letter to the Prime Minister and Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change regarding the recent announcement that seven hydropower projects will be restarted in the geologically unstable Himalayas. An excerpt of this letter are included below. A copy of the complete letter is […]
-
Indigenous women’s gathering aims to strengthen female leadership in Brazil
Continue readingThe “1st Meeting of the Women of Western Paraná – The Uprising of Guarani Women and the Strengthening of the Struggle for Land Demarcation”. Photo: Hosoya, 2021. — Dam Watch International, through the Latin American and Caribbean Subcommittee, participated in a historic moment for the Avá-Guarani peoples of Western Paraná Brazil: the “1st Meeting of […]
-
Hydropower is not a climate solution
Continue readingIn August, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published their most incriminating report yet on the state of the global climate crisis. This means that now, more than ever, we need to be investing in renewables like hydropower, right? Not necessarily. Hydropower is often presented as a climate solution, and its low-carbon electricity is […]
-
Global Movement for Rivers and Peoples
Continue reading“Between September 7 and 24, the World Hydroelectric Congress will be held in Costa Rica, basically a “show” of companies and governments to promote hydroelectric dams. Faced with this, from Costa Rica, and in coordination with a set of environmental and socio-environmental organizations from Latin America and the world, we have proposed the Global Movement […]
-
Stop the Intentional Flooding of O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation
Continue readingManitoba Hydro, a crown corporation, flooded and destroyed the land at O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation/South Indian Lake in 1974 when they diverted the Churchill River to generate hydroelectric power. This flooding was called the Churchill River Diversion Project (CRD). The CRD was contentious, and alternatives were ignored by the Government of Manitoba and Manitoba Hydro. In […]
-
Hydroelectric dams violate the right to water and food sovereignty
Continue readingThe lack of access to safe, sufficient and affordable water is one of the concerns of the movements that fight for food sovereignty. One of the causes that prevents people from fully enjoying this right is privatization, which occurs in very different forms and levels. The hoarding and the modification of the natural water cycle […]
-
Rio Verde: 15 years of resistance against hydro-electric dams
Continue readingIn Mexico, hydroelectric dam construction is accompanied by serious violations of the human rights of thousands of indigenous peoples and peasant communities. Forced displacement, little or no compensation, inadequate relocation to unsuitable areas for cultivation, community organization breakdowns, and even loss of human lives are just some of the effects of mostly private initiatives, which […]
-
The delicate territorial situation of indigenous peoples in Brazil
Continue readingRecognized worldwide for its natural resources and one of the largest tropical forests in the world, the Amazon Forest, Brazil is also characterized by presenting contexts of permanent aggressions on indigenous territories that date from colonization to the present day. According to the census of the Institute of Brazilian Geography and Statistics (IBGE) 2010, the […]
-
Hydro-Power Projects Damaged in Himalayan Glacial Burst
Continue readingPhoto source: The Indian Express On February 7th, a glacial lake outburst in Uttarakhand that washed away two hydropower projects: Rishiganga and Tapovan. Both of these were under construction. Around 150 people, mostly labourers working on these projects, have gone missing. Search operations are still going on and it has caused massive destruction. After the 2013 […]
-
Event Alert: “The Condor and the Eagle” Screening and Discussion
Continue readingJoin the Latin American screening of The Condor and the Eagle (El Cóndor y El Águila). This is part of the online event called, “Defendiendo las y los Defensores de los Pueblos de Abya Yala”, on Saturday February 13, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. Mexico and Central America Time. The event includes the virtual exhibition of […]
-
Hurricane Eta and Hydro Dams: URGENT
Continue readingWritten by Jonathan Gonzalez Quiel, translated from Spanish At the beginning of November we received the hurricane warning for the entire area, but in the particular case of Panama, the government did not worry because the hurricane would enter through Nicaragua heading to Honduras and then to the Caribbean. It was expected that 195 […]
-
Klamath River Dam Removal Update: A Win!
Continue readingA newest update on November 17, 2020 shared that the dam removal project is finally going ahead, after a long and unexpected four month delay. This is a huge win for the local tribes, activists, salmon, and ecosystem overall. For more details, check out the LA Times article here or the press release from International […]
-
Dark side of Canadian hydropower exposed in U.S. International Trade Commission investigation
Continue readingPRESS RELEASE from August 26, 2020 Contact: Meg Sheehan, Coordinator, NAMRAEmail: coordinator.namra@gmail.comPhone: US 508.259.9154 Dark side of Canadian hydropower exposed in U.S. International Trade Commission investigation of renewable energy imports Indigenous communities impacted by Canadian hydropower testify not renewable or clean energy Environmental racism, toxic water pollution and destruction of rivers by Canada’s hydropower industry were graphically […]
- 1
- 2