A message from Peter Bosshard, policy director of International Rivers:

Image via International Rivers

Announcement: New Guide to China’s Overseas Dam Industry

International Rivers announces the publication of a new report which will assist communities affected by Chinese dams around to world to engage with Chinese dam builders and financiers.

Chinese companies and financiers are involved in hundreds of new dams around the world, particularly in Southeast Asia and Africa, but also in countries like Pakistan and Albania. The Chinese government has issued policies and guidelines on the environmental and social impacts of such projects. While they do not always reflect international environmental standards and are not always implemented in practice, they provide opportunities for affected communities to assert their rights.

The new publication is entitled, The New Great Walls: A Guide to China’s Overseas Dam Industry. It offers advice on how affected communities can protect their rights and the health of their rivers in Chinese overseas dam projects. It covers the following topics:

• A “who’s who” among Chinese companies and financiers;
• Information about policies and commitments Chinese companies and financiers should follow, and the decision-making processes regarding overseas dams;
• A map of China’s major overseas dam projects;
• Analysis of the reasons behind the global expansion of China’s dam industry;
• An action guide for how to address problematic dams built by Chinese companies and financiers, and how to engage Chinese actors in such cases;
• A sample letter to a Chinese dam building company.

The guide is 40 pages long and can be downloaded for free at www.internationalrivers.org/en/node/3160. Hard copies can be ordered from Katy Yan at katy@internationalrivers.org. For any other questions contact Nicole Brewer at nicole@internationalrivers.org.

Early feedback on the new guide:

Sai Sai, Burma Rivers Network: “Right now in Burma, companies from China are involved in building more than a dozen large dams on major rivers. This Guide contains important information for us and has already been helpful for educating new activists about how we can stop these dams.”

A message from Jian Xie, senior environmental specialist for the Rural Development, Natural Resources & Environment (EASRE) Sustainable Development Department at the World Bank:

We are pleased to share the World Bank policy note “Water Pollution Emergenciesin China: Prevention and Response”(in both English and Chinese). This policy note is one of outputs of the World Bank’s Analytical and Advisory Assistance (AAA): “China: Addressing Water Scarcity—From Analysis to Action”. Aiming to assist the Chinese Government in strengthening its environmental emergency prevention and response, this policy note presents an analysis of the Chinese situation and systems currently in place for the prevention of and response to pollution emergencies, as well as relevant international experience. It puts forward a set of policy recommendations for institutional reform, risk management and prevention, and emergency response and mitigation for China. For more information on and other reports (including five background studies for the policy note) of the World Bank AAA Program, please visit the program website at
http://www.worldbank.org/eapenvironment/ChinaWaterAAA.