Evolution of Dam Policies Evidence from the Big Hydropower States [Paperback]

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. However, their real chance of becoming implemented relies on whether their core values, strategic priorities and guidelines are accepted by national decision-makers and are translated into official policies and practices. The books major concern is whether the big hydropower states have improved their standards for environment and resettlement, and whether international standards are applied or exist only on paper.

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The introductory and synthesis chapters present the methodological approach and discuss the findings. Other chapters analyze changes in dam policies in the big hydropower states Brazil, China, India and Turkey; the role of non-governmental organizations in advocating against the Turkish Ilisu Dam project on the Tigris River; the strategies of International Rivers and World Wildlife Fund for Nature in the global hydropower game; the policies of the German government and its positioning in the dam debate, and the engagement of Chinese actors in building the Bui Dam (Ghana) and the Kamchay Dam (Cambodia).

This book covers the progress and controversies in global dam policy, including norm formation processes in Brazil, China, India and Turkey, new norms for hydroelectric dams and the importance of new global actors in the field, including Chinese investors.The World Commission on Dams (WCD) report (2000) Dams and Development: A New Framework for Decision-Making has set a landmark in the highly contested controversy over large dams which has yet not ended. Now that more than ten years passed, one has to realize that the WCD norms matter but that their real chance of getting implemented relies on whether their core values, strategic prioritl“)