Response to the Final Report:

International Rivers Network

Open letter to the Asian Development Bank

20 December 2000

Mr. Tadao Chino
President
Asian Development Bank
Fax: 63 2 636 2001

Dear Mr. Chino,

World Commission on Dams Report

As you may be aware, on November 16, 2000, the World Commission on Dams, an independent body established to review the performance of large dams and make recommendations for future planning of water and energy projects, released its final report. The WCD's findings and recommendations are particularly relevant for public financial institutions such as the ADB.

The ADB has played an active role in the WCD process. The ADB provided financial support to the WCD's East and SE Asia Regional Consultation, and made several submissions to the WCD. The ADB is also a member of the WCD Forum.

The WCD found that large dams have had unacceptable social and environmental impacts and have failed to produce as much electricity, provide as much water, or control as much flood damage as their sponsors claim. The WCD recommends a new framework for decision-making that recognizes the rights of all stakeholders in negotiating development choices and outlines a set of practical criteria and guidelines governing water and energy resources development in the future.

The WCD states that "both the multilateral and bilateral development banks played a significant facilitating role in getting Asia, Africa and Latin America started in the dam business". Although the proportion of investment in dams directly financed by bilaerals and multilaterals was perhaps less than 15%, these institutions played a key strategic role globally in spreading the technology, lending legitimacy to emerging dam projects, training future engineers and government agencies, and leading financing arrangements."

The WCD recommends that multilateral development banks "review internal processes and operational policies in relation to the Commission's recommendations to determine changes needed in the selection of projects for lending portfolios; the appraisal process; and implementation, monitoring and evaluation." The WCD also recommends that MDBs "Review the portfolio of past projects to identify those that may have under-performed or present unresolved issues and share in addressing the financial burden of such projects for borrower countries."

To coincide with the release of the WCD report, Rivers Watch East and Southeast Asia, a network of peoples organizations and NGOs working to stop dam construction in East and SE Asia and to restore rivers, issued a call to all agencies involved in dam-building in East and Southeast Asia. The RWESA call is enclosed. Fifty-seven NGOs from 15 countries called on the ADB to:

• Immediately and comprehensively integrate the WCD's recommendations into all ADB policies
• Establish an independent, open and participatory review of all planned and ongoing dam projects using the WCD recommendations as a guide;
• Pay reparations to all communities who have suffered harm as a result of past projects and
• Place a moratorium on all new projects until the above measures have been implemented

I am writing to urge you to establish an open and participatory process for incorporating the WCD's guidelines into ADB policies, and to place a moratorium on funding dam projects until the process is complete. In addition, I am writing to urge you to review the portfolio of past ADB dam projects to address unresolved issues, as recommended by the WCD. A first step would be to ensure that the communities affected by Nam Theun-Hinboun and Nam Leuk dams in Laos are adequately compensated for their losses.

I look forward to hearing your response to these important issues.

Sincerely

Ms. Aviva Imhof
South-East Asia Campaigner

Encl. RWESA Rivers Watch East and Southeast Asia:
"Call to all agencies involved in dam-building in East and Southeast Asia upon the release of the World Commission on Dams final report"