Speech by Dr. Maritta von Bieberstein Koch-Weser

Director General
IUCN – The World Conservation Union

Dear President Mandela,
Your Royal Highness,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Dear Colleagues and Friends,

The unresolved and highly contentious dams debate of the 1980s and 1990s left permanent scars on development processes and institutions. It was fortunate that in April 1997 a group of organisations decided to move beyond stand-off and confrontation. A new strategy was to be explored. It was to focus on co-operation, on balancing needs, and on recognising rights and risks - as we then hoped - to the benefit of all. Based on their 1997 meeting in Gland, Switzerland, IUCN - The World Conservation Union and the World Bank facilitated the creation of the World Commission on Dams. We have an opportunity today to thank Jim Wolfensohn for his farsighted leadership in making this happen - and in taking the inherent risks.

For all involved, it was clear: to achieve its goal, this Commission had to be independent, transparent and rigorous. It was to set up an inclusive and balanced consultation process to address serious controversies. It was to listen to all those that had a word to say, a case to make.

Has the Commission lived up to expectations? Has it shed new light on dams, their benefits, their impacts? Over the last two and a half years, many of you have been involved in some way in the work of the Commission, and I believe you will agree that - yes - it has.

And it has set up high quality reviews, public hearings and thorough information gathering. It has also created a knowledge base that goes beyond what any individual organisation could possibly compile. Among the Commission's findings I value especially its honest look at the true costs:

• Cost overruns in dam construction, on average, amount to 50%, with a maximum of over 250%; and irrigation projects – that are not only large dam projects – overstate project returns at the outset;
• Even more significant is the assessment that dams have resulted in irreversible loss of species and ecosystems. Losing money is one thing, irreversibly losing the planet´s resources is quite another.
• Add to these facts that such losses have impoverished local people in Asia, Africa and Latin America, who depend on affected natural river systems for their livelihoods.

These are the findings of an independent Commission with representation from both sides of the argument after 2.5 years of intense work with a large number of stakeholders.

The report paves the way for a new approach, one that builds on looking at all energy development options, one that recognises people´s rights from the outset; one that more truthfully assesses all risks. It also points to the importance of assessing alternatives to irrigation, water storage and hydropower. As such, the Report of the Commission forms a landmark in the history of the development and operations of dams.

But it is not any verdict on dams. The end of the Commission means an immediate task ahead for us all. Energy needs are ever increasing, and choices are upon us. We – affected people, local organisations public and private, development planners, financiers and industry - all of us need to work together. We must, as a next step, sit down together to examine the Commission´s guidelines, and to initiate their application.

Let us maintain transparency. We need to take this report to the people. IUCN is committed to use its unique convening power around the globe to contribute to this. Last month, during the 2nd World Conservation Congress, IUCN´s 1000 Member institutions, including States, Ministries and NGOs, pledged IUCN´s support to analyse the report and to facilitate dialogue among stakeholders.

IUCN believes that all parties need to do their best to avoid, minimise or compensate for the negative environmental and social impacts of dams. Through transparent decision-making processes we need to establish clear responsibility systems for the social and environmental safeguards associated with the construction, management and long term safety of dams.

As the world's umbrella organisation of environmental institutions, IUCN hopes especially to help avoid any human - induced loss of species. This priority is very much reflected in IUCN's Water & Nature Initiative launched in Amman last month. Central to this Initiative is an ecospace - oriented approach, establishing ecosystem management as a common practice in water resources using basin-wide approaches.

Our Water & Nature Initiative will build on the Commission's guidelines, and include work on issues such as environmental flows, baseline assessments, stakeholder participation and wise water governance.

The Commission presents its findings at a time when our rivers, lakes and wetlands are in peril. Currently, 30 % of freshwater fish and over 800 other freshwater species are on the brink of extinction. At the same time, millions of people are losing their homes, land and livelihoods through natural disasters, floods and droughts or in connection with the construction of new dams.

For instance, in the Mekong river basin, more than 250 million people depend on the river for their survival. The fish caught in this basin alone are worth close to one billion US dollars per year. We need to maintain the services these ecosystems provide and ensure that their use is equitable and sustainable. Yet, more than 50 dams have been planned for the region, to meet energy demands. These dams will bring drastic changes to many people's lives and livelihoods and to the natural ecosystem.

Fortunately, the Commission's report puts dams within the wider framework of water management, equitable sharing and sustainability. For that achievement, I sincerely wish to congratulate the Commission and all those who have contributed to its work.

On our one and only planet, more and more people depend on a resource base, which cannot grow. We must pay far greater attention to environment-related social and economic risk.

After this report, we can no longer say, "We did not know".

Thank you.