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Commissioners’ Foreword

The World Commission on Dams (WCD) was born out of a small but significant IUCN-World Bank sponsored workshop in Gland, Switzerland in April 1997. Representatives of diverse interests came together to discuss the highly controversial issues associated with large dams. To the surprise of participants, deep-seated differences on the development benefits of large dams did not prevent a consensus emerging. That consensus included the proposal for a World Commission on Dams.

As Commissioners, we have been honoured to serve on The WCD for the past two and a half years. Representing all sides of the debate, we have worked as an autonomous international team. Our task was to conduct a rigorous, independent review of the development effectiveness of large dams, to assess alternatives and to propose practical guidelines for future decision-making.

Since our work began in May 1998, we have met on nine occasions. We have listened to one anothers´ different viewpoints in a genuine spirit of openness and desire to find a common understanding. All of us have found it a learning process, an enriching if sometimes uncomfortable one. This consensus document is the result of our work, but it would be unfair to the process to suggest that we have emerged completely of one mind. Individual differences still exist. However, we all agree on the fundamental principles and values that underpin this report and on the guidelines we offer for the way forward. In the final drafting of our report we have included ‘A Comment´ at the end of this document which offers additional insights on the findings and recommendations we have developed and agreed to as a group of Commissioners.

The WCD is delivering its product in a rapidly changing international environment. Debates proliferate about how to conserve the world´s precious resource base while meeting the needs of growing populations hungry for economic progress. Terms of investment, terms of trade, democratisation, the role of the state, the role of civil society, the obligation to protect threatened ecosystems and preserve Planet Earth for future generations: all are part of the wider context. Any policy on large infrastructure projects – whether for dams, highways, power stations, or other mega-installations – has to be developed in this context.

At the same time, alternative perspectives on human rights and development are being more clearly expressed. The Right to Development, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1986 argues that ‘development is a comprehensive process aimed at the constant improvement of the well-being of the entire population…´. Recently, vocal condemnation of the globalisation process, pointing out that too many people are being left behind those forging ahead, has added support to this call for a better quality of life for all of humanity, not just for some. The United Nations Development Programme´s Human Development Report 2000 has given us a timely reminder that the rights to security and basic freedoms, and to human development are two sides of the same coin and that when ‘human rights and human development advance together, they reinforce one another.´

As an international Commission, our process has been unique in taking on board a range of interests and opinions previously held to be irreconcilable. We have examined evidence produced and opinions expressed by a wide range of stakeholders: government agencies, project affected people and non-governmental organisations, people´s movements, the dam construction industry, the export credit agencies and private investors, and the international development community. Through this work programme the Commission has added a new body of knowledge to existing databases and information on large dams, looking at alternate ways of meeting irrigation, water supply, energy, flood control requirements and processes of development planning.

How did we achieve this? First by creating a 68 member Stakeholder Forum to act as a sounding board and advisory group for the WCD. The Forum has allowed us to reach other partners in the debate and to sound out those whose support for this report is essential to its effective use.

Second, by drawing on the wider stakeholder community for experts and analysts in developing the WCD Knowledge Base, and for funds to support the Commission´s work. To date, 53 public, private and civil society organisations have pledged funds to the WCD. This independent funding model is unique for international commissions.

Third, by undertaking a programme of four Regional Consultations in different parts of the world that drew submissions from an even wider network of interested parties. This provided a platform for all voices to be heard. Altogether, 1 400 individuals from 59 countries and from every type of stakeholder group took part in these regional consultations. The WCD also participated in two hearings on large dams organised for its benefit by NGOs in Southern Africa and Europe. During its two-year lifetime the Commission has received 947 submissions from over 80 countries. We have listed all of them in a central database accessible via the Internet.

Fourth, by initiating eight independent in-depth Case Studies of specific large dam projects and two country studies (India and China). Using a common methodology, the case studies were conducted in a transparent and participatory manner drawing inputs from all stakeholders through an extensive consultation process. We have used the findings from all these studies and submissions to inform a central product of the Report: the Global Review of Large Dams.

Fifth, by undertaking 17 Thematic Reviews, employing experts from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds, nationalities and institutional bases. These reviews fall into five thematic categories: Social Issues, Environmental Issues, Economic and Financial Issues, Options Assessment and Institutional Issues. Once again, we conducted these reviews in a participatory manner, commissioning over 100 papers with full peer review.

Lastly, by conducting a comprehensive global survey of 125 dams, which we used to ‘cross-check´, the findings of the individual studies. The Cross-Check Survey has provided a basic set of data on trends to complement the knowledge base.

We are fully aware that this body of data cannot and should not be seen as the ‘final verdict´ on the large dams story. The WCD has examined around 1 000 dams with varying degrees of intensity. This is a small fraction of the more than 45 000 large dams world-wide. There has been little systematic collection of data about dam projects in the past, and without baseline data we cannot arrive at definite conclusions about certain types of impacts. Albeit, the WCD report is the first comprehensive global and independent review of the essential aspects of the performance of dams. In many cases the impacts are still being played out, and will continue for many years to come. For this reason it is important for the future management of dams to have continued and systematic evaluation of their performance.

In carrying out our review we have not tried to judge individual dams. We have found that the unprecedented expansion in large dam building over the past century, harnessing water for irrigation, domestic and industrial consumption, electricity generation and flood control has clearly benefited many people globally. Nonetheless, this positive contribution of large dams to development has been marred in many cases by significant environmental and social impacts which, when viewed from today´s values, are unacceptable.

We have sought to glean the lessons from the past in order to make recommendations for the future through a prism of equitable and sustainable development. Development based on five objectives: equity in resource allocation and in the spread of benefits; sustainability in the use of the world´s diminishing resource-base; openness and participation in decision-making processes; efficiency in the management of existing infrastructural developments; and accountability towards present and future generations.

In today´s rapidly globalising world the WCD process has pioneered a new path for global public policy making on issues of equitable and sustainable development. This Report is the test against which that process will be measured. We hope that the policy framework and practical guidelines for its implementation presented here will add significant value to existing norms and form a basis for best practice in water and energy development. This is only a beginning, but we hope it is a dynamic beginning that others can take forward in the future. We also hope that the lessons learnt from our analysis of large dams will be seen as relevant for other large infrastructural projects, and that the framework of policy development and implementation we have identified will see wider application.

The life of the World Commission on Dams ends with the publication of this Report. For the Commissioners this has been an exciting, challenging and enriching process. It would not have been possible without the tireless commitment of an extraordinary team of professionals in the Secretariat. But more, we are indebted to hundreds of people around the world who, mostly at their own expense, have given us the bounty of their knowledge, expertise and life´s experiences though discussion papers, submissions and presentations adding light and life to this report on large dams.