17 November 2000
WCD Launches Final Report at United Nations
Secretary General Kofi Annan, UN Partners, Receive Report WCD Cited By UN Authors as 'Coalition for Change'

NEW YORK, November 17 -- Just two months after the UN Millennium Conference, where leaders redefined the UN's approach to decision-making and consensus-building, the World Commission on Dams presented its Final Report, Dams and Development: A New Framework for Decision-Making to its UN partners and the international community. It is the product of two years of co-operation between governments, the private sector and civil society, and shows how, and why, global public policy networks can help address critical development issues.

The Report owes much to the partnership with the United Nations Environment Program and the UN Foundation, which opened the door for close interaction with the United Nations. Throughout its two years, the Commission was therfore able to draw upon the input of half a dozen UN partners, including the World Health Organization, the Food and Agricultural Organisation, and the UN Development Program.

The WCD Final Report is in many ways a direct response to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's Millennium Challenge, to forge tighter alliances between industry, governments and civil society. In his Millennium Report - We, the Peoples: The Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century - Annan emphasised the urgent need for global public policy networks to help rethink and overhaul the role and operations of the UN.

The Commission already has succeeded in bringing together for the first time all sectors and parties in the increasingly confrontational debate about the role that 45,000 large dams have played in development. For two years a diverse global network of engineers, environmentalists, government officials, indigenous people, financiers, affected people and academics engaged in an unprecedented global public policy process. Overcoming their differences, all Commissioners unanimously signed one report which will have a profound impact not only on the future role of the $40 billion dam industry, but on how to develop water and energy resources.

Speaking yesterday afternoon at the global launch in London before 400 inernational representatives from governments, the private sector and civil society, former South African President, Nelson Mandela praised the constructive nature of the independent Commission, comparing its work to his own experiences: "It is one thing to find fault with an existing system. It is another thing altogether, a more difficult task, to replace it with an approach that is better."

Key highlights from the report included:

• An assessment that dams have made an important and significant contribution to human development, but in too many cases, the social and environmental costs have been unacceptable and often unnecessary.


• A new framework for decision-making that moves beyond simple cost-benefit tradeoffs to introduce an inclusive 'rights and risks approach' which recognises all legitimate stakeholders in negotiating development choices.


• A set of core values, strategic priorities, and practical criteria and guidelines governing water and energy resources development in the future.


• A challenge to national governments, civil society groups, bilateral aid agencies and multilateral development banks and the private sector to change the way they view energy and water resources development.

The report provides the most comprehensive, global and independent review of dams to date. The WCD's Global Review examines the technical, financial and economic performance of dams as well as their environmental and social performance. Together with its assessment of potential alternatives to dams and the study of decision making processes, it offers unique insights into one of the most of the controversial development debates of our time.

WCD Chairman and Minister of Education in South Africa, Kader Asmal and members of the Commission, presented the report in London, supported by Mr Mandela; and the Chairman of the World Water Forum 2000, HRH The Prince of Orange; UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson; as well as World Bank President James D Wolfensohn and World Conservation Union (IUCN) Director General, Maritta von Bieberstein Koch-Weser whose two institutions jointly initiated the process that led to the Commission being established in 1998.

Noting its Forum of 68 diverse members from all sectors, WCD has become an archetype of 'coalition for change,' according to a new report by Wolfgang Reinicke and Francis Deng, written in support of the UN Secretary General's Millennium Report. The authors cite it as an emerging model that responds directly to the challenges set by Mr Annan.

"The case of the WCD demonstrates how an almost archetypical trisectoral (government, private sector and civil society organisations) network operating at the global level can contribute to building consensual knowledge and overcoming stalemate in a policy arena riven with conflict," Reinicke and Deng observe in Critical Choices, The United Nations, Networks, and the Future of Global Governance.

"Some observers have cited the WCD as a model global public policy network for UN agencies to follow," said Asmal. "But we believe the WCD demonstrates that Kofi Annan's call for global public policy networks is both timely and practical. Without bringing all the parties to the development table, we are unlikely to make any progress, whether this issues is dams, globalisation or genetically modified organisms."

Key Findings of the Review of Large Dams

The World Commission on Dams conducted detailed reviews of eight large dams in Turkey, Norway, the United States, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Thailand, Pakistan, Brazil and South Africa. It also prepared country reviews for India and China, as well as a briefing paper on Russia and the Newly Independent States. A survey of 125 large dams was also undertaken, along with 17 thematic reviews on social, environmental and economic issues; on alternatives to dams; and on governance and institutional processes. It received 947 submissions and hosted four regional consultations in Colombo, Sao Paulo, Cairo and Hanoi where the Commissioners listened to people's individual experiences. All these inputs formed the core of the WCD Knowledge Base that served to inform the Commission on the main issues surrounding dams and their alternatives

The Commission found that:

• Dams deliver significant development services in more than 140 countries. On a global scale hydropower dams account for 19% of electricity generated and for an estimated 12 - 16 % of global food production. 12% of large dams supply domestic and industrial water, and large dams provide flood control services in more than 70 countries;


• Large dams display a high degree of variability in delivering predicted water and electricity services - and related social benefits - with a considerable portion falling short of physical and economic targets, while others continue to generate benefits after 30 - 40 years.


• Large dams have demonstrated a marked tendency towards schedule delays and cost overruns.


• Large dams have led to the loss of forests and wildlife habitat and the loss of aquatic biodiversity of upstream and downstream fisheries. The Commission found that efforts to counter the ecosystem impact of large dams had met with limited success.


• The negative social impacts reflect a pervasive and systematic failure to assess and account for the range of potential negative impacts on displaced and resettled people as well as downstream communities. Estimates suggest that some 40-80 million people have been displaced by dams worldwide while the liveliehoods of many more living downstream were affected but not recognised. Mitigation, compensation or resettlement programs were often inadequate.

Alternatives to Dams for Water & Energy Resources Development

The Commission examined the alternatives for meeting energy, water and food needs and found that while there is far greater scope for utilising these no universal formula applies as local and national conditions are central to determining viable options:

• A number of environmentally and economically viable supply options are emerging, including wind and solar energy, recycling, and local water management. However, obstacles such as market, institutional, intellectual and financial barriers limit the adoption rate of alternatives.



• Improved system management, particularly in the irrigation sector but also through reduction in water losses, more efficient system management and an upgrading of distribution technology, can alleviate demand for new supply sources.


• Demand-side management has significant potential and provides a major opportunity to reduce water stress and power requirements.

Guidelines for Decision-Making in the Future

The Report argues it is not necessary to trade off one person's gain against another's loss. Rather, by negotiating outcomes through multi-criteria analysis -- technical, environmental, economic, social and financial -- the development effectiveness of water and energy projects will be improved, unfavourable projects will be eliminated at an early stage, and the options chosen will be what key stakeholders agree best meets the needs in question. Recommendations included:

• A set of five core values for future decision-making - Equity; Sustainability; Efficiency; Participatory decision-making and Accountability.



• A rights and risks approach for identifying all legitimate stakeholders in negotiating development choices and agreements.



• Seven Strategy Priorities for water and energy resources development: Gaining Public Acceptance; Comprehensive Options Assessment; Addressing Existing Dams; Sustaining Rivers and Livelihoods; Recognizing Entitlements and Sharing Benefits; Ensuring Compliance; and Sharing Rivers for Peace, Development and Security.



• A set of clear criteria for assessing compliance and 26 guidelines for review and approval of projects at five key stages of decision-making.

Recommendations & Responsibilities

In order to achieve this new framework for decision-making, the Commission provides specific recommendations and responsibilities for key stakeholders in the debate. These reflect lessons learnt and offer guidance as to how a consensus on optimal use of water and energy resources can be achieved. Examples include:

• environmental flow requirements to sustain aquatic ecosystems


• integrity pacts for contractors and developers


• procedures for assessing claims of aggrieved parties and providing compensation


• financial incentives and sanctions to ensure compliance


• criteria for international financing of dams involving transboundary rivers


• guidelines and binding agreements for resettlement programmes.

The Commission's mandate expired with the launch on November 16. The WCD Forum will meet in February 2001 to determine further mechanisms for implementation.

In her message to the global launch, Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has called the Report a "landmark document":

"The Commission's conclusions… highlight the growing recognition that, in an age of globalization, greater efforts can and must be made to reconcile the need for economic growth with the need to protect the dignity of individuals, the cultural heritage of communities and the health of the environment we all share. The report offers a new policy framework which I believe can be a useful model not only in the area of water and energy resources but also for other development issues which impact so profoundly on the fundamental rights of individuals. A central concept in the report is that of "rights and risks", based around consultative decision-making. This approach takes into account the legitimate claims and entitlements of all stakeholders affected by proposed dam projects and at the same time seeks to understand the impact which such projects h ave on the environment, local communities, indigenous cultures and their livelihoods."

Asmal concludes: "The WCD urges governments, NGOs, businesses, professional associations, aid agencies, utilities and affected peoples to practice what we preach because we preach only what we have practised ourselves. We listened to all sides. We reviewed alternatives. We balanced ideal against possible and made our decision to sign this report with confidence. We exclude only one development option: inaction. The cost of conflict is too high."