Opening Remarks

Ladies and gentlemen, friends and distinguished colleagues, it is a great pleasure to be with you in Turkey, this cradle of civilisation around which so much of the history of this intriguing region has turned. We all feel tremendous sadness over the dreadful catastrophe wrought by the recent earthquake that devastated this beautiful land. Mother Nature is both a powerful friend and a terrifying, mysterious adversary. I join with you in expressing our profound sympathy with the Turkish people for their tremendous loss.

I believe we all have a great deal to learn from Turkey's experience with large dams. For that reason the World Commission on Dams selected the Aslantas dam on the Ceyhan River here in Turkey as part of our global case study effort as one opportunity to illustrate the development experience and lessons learned in this region.

I am pleased to be spending at least a full day in the company of members of ICOLD, one of the most important constituencies of the World Commission on Dams and one of the key members of our advisory Forum.

I particularly wish to thank your Chairman Kaare Hoeg, Secretary General Jacques Lecornu, and Mr. Mümtaz Turfan of TRCOLD for the opportunity to speak to you at today's session on the "Benefits of and Concerns of Large Dams". The gathering for 67th Annual Meeting of ICOLD speaks clearly of the longevity and relevance of ICOLD.

This morning I would like to convey to you my own views of the World Commission on Dams process and direction. Later this afternoon I will have more detailed discussions with ICOLD Officers to elaborate on certain of these points and explore areas to expand our mutual co-operation.

Challenges & Opportunities

The complex debate over whether dams are good or bad and their future role in different societies has become one of the most intensely contested issues in sustainable development today. Unfortunately this debate has in recent years become increasingly polarised and conflictual - at times, more reflective of the frustrations of one side with the other, than focused on the difficult choices associated with managing our water and energy resources.

Caught between the imperative to assure supply of water and electricity to domestic, agricultural and industrial users and the desire to ensure that human conditions and environmental considerations are not ignored in the process, dams encapsulate the choices and dilemmas faced by every society. ICOLD already appreciates this reality, so well enunciated in the paper presented by your Secretary-General, Monsieur Le Cornu, at the Hydrovison conference in 1998, I will come back to that later.

The Mandate of World Commission on Dams.

For those not familiar, the two-year mandate of the World Commission on Dams is to deliver a report which apart from our key recommendations will encompass three major outputs: namely (1) a global review of the development effectiveness of large dams considering lessons learned; (2) a framework for options assessment and decision-making in which we will be emphasising emerging good practice; and (3) criteria and guidelines for the future intended to address key areas of policy and decision-making and hopefully shed light on the path forward.

Why the Need for a World Commission on Dams?

But, you may wonder, "Why the need for this upstart World Commission on Dams when the ICOLD has been in existence since 1928, has national committees in 81 countries, and vast technical expertise to offer the world?" And there is no question, as ICOLD itself suggests, that the science of dam engineering and water management has been tremendously advanced and shared worldwide through ICOLD's activities.

The answer lies in the intense debate that has erupted in recent years over the costs and benefits of large dams in terms of their social, environmental, and economic impacts: and perhaps equally important, the implications of this debate for countries struggling to make urgent investments for poverty alleviation and sustainable development utilising their water and energy resource endowment.

As South Africa's Minister of Water Affairs I lived through this for five years - through the lobbying of vested interests and the intransigence on both sides of this debate. It often was tempting to make no decision rather than risk the wrath of one side or the other. Yet I too had to make decisions, to ensure sustainable supplies of water and electricity for cities and towns, for farmers and industry, an increasingly difficult achievement given population growth, increasing urbanisation, and environmental degradation in watersheds.

The reality is that the discussion is no longer just between technical experts and governments. There is more to dam design than creating a well-considered physical project which meets the client's objectives at reasonable cost. Indeed, ICOLD members have been at the forefront of addressing the need to adapt planning and decision-making frameworks to reflect changing priorities in their societies.

The changes that have occurred during the last two decades, both within our countries and internationally have fundamentally changed the way development decisions are taken today. No one can ignore role of civil society and the private sector in influencing, and at times determining the options available to government planners. Public choice and access to investment capital are key variables in development today. While we may not always welcome the consequences implied by these changes, we must learn to manage them in the best interest of our nations. Competing interests must be reconciled and this implies dialogue and negotiation. Dams have not escaped this phenomenon - in some ways they have become symbols in the evolving debate over the definition of development.

The WCD was created because no single existing institution had the cross-sectoral, multi-stakeholder mandate to take on this task. A new, independent body and process was required, one that could hopefully transcend the polarisation, suspicion, misinformation and even hidden agendas that exist in the two extremes to the debate. For this approach to work our 12 distinguished Commission members were selected from the front lines in the debate.

Those Commissioners represent the diverse views and experience in the dam's debate. We have replicated that diversity in:

• our broader group of advisors, the WCD Forum. It is made up of 57 stakeholder groups ranging from utilities to river basin authorities to NGOs, affected peoples' groups, export credit agencies, governments, etc.
• in the research partnerships we have undertaken with other international organisations, to avoid duplication of effort. These include ICOLD and ICID, the International Rivers Network, The World Bank, mention the Council of the Cree, the UN Environment Programme, the World Archaeological Congress, and many more.
• And in the vast range of financial contributors to the WCD. These include companies such as Asian Development Bank and ABB, numerous governments, the UN Foundation, the Worldwide Fund for Nature, IUCN, and many prestigious foundations.

Based on our experience so far, I am now even more convinced of the correctness of our approach and the open and inclusive process that only such a Commission can provide. By bringing all sides of a multi-faceted debate along with us, a unique chance is provided to overcome the current paralysis facing decision making.

One Year into The WCD Process: What Progress Have We Made?

We have just completed the first year of our intense two-year mandate. The Commission has met five times and achieved a remarkable degree of consensus on the WCD process and the key question we must address. Nine case studies are well underway around the globe; they will provide us with extensive lessons. A cross check survey of 150 dams has been initiated, that together with the case studies, will shed light of the effectiveness of dam projects and the scale of their benefits and impacts. Seventeen thematic reviews are underway involving more that 200 writers and reviewers on such diverse but inter-related issues as international trends in project financing, irrigation and food security, reservoir-induced displacement, storage and flood management, and regulation and compliance.

We have held regional consultations for the South Asia and Latin America where proponents and opponents of dams had the opportunity to put their views directly to the Commissioners. We have also received hundreds of submissions from individuals and organisations keen to place their views on the Commission's table.

Two more regional consultations are planned, one for Africa and the Middle East in Cairo in early December, and East and South-East Asia in late February 2000. I encourage you to support and participate in these meetings, by sending submissions to us in advance.

Specific Opportunities & Challenges for ICOLD as a WCD Partner

Dam-building has changed a great deal since ICOLD was founded 71 years ago and ICOLD has evolved with these developments. Since the late 1960s ICOLD has added to its list of concerns dam safety, environmental impacts, and the effects of ageing on dams as well as the changing role and operation of dams. You have much that you are able to share with the world about large dams.

We need ICOLD's input, as both a global network of professionals, and as national chapters and individual members. We are looking for examples of best practice in planning, building, operating, and, where it may be a relevant issue, decommissioning dams.

It is our hope that, thanks to ICOLD's engagement in WCD, you will be an integral part this international effort, and as such will encourage the adoption and implementation of the WCD recommendations. We are asking that same degree of support from all parties to the WCD, including NGOs. The time for only talk and vision is past. We have to make sure that the principles on which we all agree are actually implemented, rather than just gathering dust on shelves. Otherwise we will have missed an important opportunity.

Progress Toward the Final Report

The 12 WCD Commissioners have read the 10 policy principles in ICOLD's position paper on dams and the environment. And you may be surprised to hear that, despite the different interests represented in the WCD, there is a remarkable degree of agreement with you on those same principles. In my speech to the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage last week, I told them the same thing: their five key areas of concern, summarised in an ICID position paper on dams, are also our five key areas of concern.

The 10 principles in the ICOLD position paper on dams and the environment are examples of areas to move for clarity in the principle and how to apply them in practice; and from your work these include:

• Information Disclosure, Participation and Negotiation
• Options-Assessment
• Realistic Financial and Economic Appraisal
• Involuntary Resettlement as Development
• Appraisal of Sustainability
• Operation and Monitoring

Earlier I mentioned the key challenges that Monsieur Le Cornu enumerated for the organisation when he addressed HydroVision '98. They are:

• ecology and the philosophy concerned with dams
• economics connected with market processes, finance and business
• and fairness in resettlement.

Again, this tells me that we all are in close agreement as to the fundamental concerns about dams.

While the Commission as a whole still has to tackle a number of complex and difficult subjects, I would like to end my remarks by offering a few observations that, by and large, reflect our current thinking:

Our objective as a Commission is to inform decision makers about dams, not to offer a final verdict on dams. We believe in the right to development and the right of every society to choose the path it considers appropriate. Dams are a means to an end - not a philosophy or an advocacy tool.

Development must be sustainable, and we must grasp the nettle of the past inequitable sharing of costs and benefits of dams, particularly with regard to dam-affected people and the environment.

The starting premise for decision-makers should not be "We need a dam and it will deliver these services and benefits." Rather, we should start from the premise that "We need these services, what are the options for delivering them?" Dams must not be considered the one and only solution, nor should they be rejected outright. Projects argued on their merits vis-à-vis other options will be better built, deliver services more equitably, and the public will have more confidence in them.

Among the ultimate objectives is the goal to return the debate to the country level for broad participation in decision-making, which recognises the rights and views of all, affected by a dam, be they urban consumers or indigenous communities.

And at the same time, provide greater clarity in the international arena about the issues and the behaviour of the international institutions and public and private sector organisations and their influence on individual countries, reflecting the fact that global influences and interdependence are a reality.

Closing

Let me close by emphasising the enormous opportunity that many of us feel is represented in the WCD. Whatever your standpoint in the debate, you will not find another opportunity for global dialogue of this kind for years to come. Some may question our credentials. Some may think we shouldn't ever even talk about decommissioning. Some questioned the significant presence of dam-affected peoples at our recent Latin America consultation. But I would urge you not to be distracted. This Commission, now more than one year old, is already a success. Despite our differing views - we have begun to demonstrate that there is a better way for conducting the complex dams debate.

Mutual respect and a willingness to understand each other's viewpoints have allowed the Commission to focus on the fundamental questions that give rise to this Commission.

At the heart of our work lies the challenge of how societies can best negotiate decisions that define the development path of our respective nations. I hope you will join us in finding the right answers which are clearly needed if we are to avoid the conflicts which have come to be associated with dams - not everywhere but too often and in too many of our countries!

And now I would like to ask my Secretary-General, Mr. Achim Steiner, to provide you with a brief update on the work in progress and our schedule.