Although new dam projects must be socially and environmentally acceptable, the need for
more hydropower must be accepted, Ian Johnston, the World Bank vice-president for sustainable development, told the Financial Times.
Mr Johnston said: “We have to confront the fact that developing countries will have to invest more. That means governments embracing controversial projects – and that includes dams.” The World Bank will make the point on Monday at the World Water Forum, a meeting aimed at implementing ambitious United Nations targets to halve the number of people without access to clean drinking water or sanitation by 2015.
The proposal could prompt controversy. In November 2000, an influential report by the multi-agency World Commission on Dams criticised many hydropower projects, arguing the environmental and social damage they caused often outweighed economic benefits. Environmental groups are likely to view the proposal with suspicion. WWF said dams had often been as bad for investors as the environment. “We expect the forum to provide clear guidance on how we can service the world without simply resorting to expensive and socially and environmentally damaging infrastructure projects,” it said. However, World Bank officials will argue strongly that its support for new dams takes full account of the
commission’s criticisms. “The key to public acceptance is the recognition that affected communities and natural resources are clearly beneficiaries rather than losers due to a hydropower project,” a bank position paper will say. Dams would be only part of the mass of infrastructure programmes that require a doubling of global water investment to meet the targets. Most dams projects in developing countries will involve private companies, the bank believes. “While pure public financing might be appropriate in very poor countries, the magnitude of the required investment will probably dictate public-private partnerships in most developing countries”. The forum, which is expected to attract 10,000 delegates from governments, the UN and non-governmental organisations, is billing itself as the most important water meeting ever held. It will address a broad range of issues, including tackling the 5 million annual deaths from water-related diseases, the threat posed to the 2.7 billion people who will face water scarcity by 2025, the risk of international conflict over waste and growing damage to the world’s lakes, rivers and
wetlands. The meeting, which comes three years after the last World Water Forum in The Hague, will attempt to focus on implementation of solutions, rather than further debate about the nature of the problem.
It is expected to emphasise the role that communities play when governments have failed.