*english below*

Im Jahr 2025 jährt sich das Erscheinen des Abschlussberichts der Weltstaudammkomission zum fünfundzwanzigsten Mal.

Flüsse sind Lebensadern für Mensch und Natur. Aber all zu oft werden sie nur als wirtschaftliche Ressource genutzt, ohne Rücksicht auf Konsequenzen. Zahlreiche große Wasserkraftprojekte auf der ganzen Welt, die katastrophale Auswirkungen haben, machen dies deutlich. Betroffene, die sich gegen die Zerstörung wehren, werden oft mundtot gemacht, bedroht oder gar getötet.

Schon lange gibt es Konflikte um die ökologischen, sozialen und wirtschaftlichen Auswirkungen von Staudämmen. Durch die eskalierende Klimakrise werden diese verschärft, denn sie ist auch eine Wasserkrise und hat erhebliche Auswirkungen auf natürliche Wasserkreisläufe.

Ende der 1990er Jahre entstand als Reaktion auf die heftigen Auseinandersetzungen um Großstaudämme insbesondere im Globalen Süden die internationale Weltstaudammkommission, um verschiedene Perspektiven auf Wasserkraft zusammenzubringen und Empfehlungen zu entwickeln. Im Jahr 2000 veröffentlichte sie ihren Abschlussbericht. Das 25-jährige Jubiläum nehmen wir zum Anlass, den Bericht der Kommission und Entwicklungen seitdem zu reflektieren – aber vor allem auch, um nach vorne zu schauen. Denn trotz aller Schäden sind nach wie vor zahlreiche neue Staudämme in Planung, die als effektive Klimaschutzmaßnahmen angepriesen werden. Wieso sind diese Pläne kritisch zu hinterfragen? Was hat Wasserkraft mit der Klimakrise zu tun? Welche Alternativen gibt es? Diesen Fragen gehen wir in unserer Jubiläumspublikation nach.

Unten auf dieser Seite stellen wir die in der Publikationen genutzten Quellen sowie weitere Ressourcen zur Verfügung.

 

 

Rivers are lifelines for people and nature. But all too often they are only used as an economic resource, with little regard for the consequences. Numerous large hydropower projects around the world, which have catastrophic effects, make this clear. Those affected who oppose the destruction are often silenced, threatened or even killed.

There have long been conflicts over the ecological, social and economic impact of dams. The escalating climate crisis is exacerbating these conflicts, as it is also a water crisis and has a significant impact on natural water cycles.

At the end of the 1990s, the International World Commission on Dams was established in response to the fierce controversies surrounding large dams, particularly in the Global South, in order to bring together different perspectives on hydropower and develop recommendations. It published its final report in 2000. We are taking the 25th anniversary as an opportunity to reflect on the Commission’s report and developments since then – but above all to look ahead. Because despite all the damage, numerous new dams are still being planned, which are touted as effective climate protection measures. Why should these plans be critically scrutinized? What does hydropower have to do with the climate crisis? What alternatives are there? We explore these questions in our anniversary publication.

On this page, you can find links to further resources and sources mentioned in the publication.

 

Sources and further readings

The World Commission on Dams 25 Years Later: Rivers and Rights Still at Risk

Sources:

Further Reading:

The Struggle of People Affected by Dams in Brazil

Sources

  • Dams have reshaped entire territories: Nobrega, Renata (2011). Those affected by dams: refugees from an unknown war. 19. Implementation of large hydroelectric dams: strategies of the electricity sector, strategies of the affected populations; Vainer, Carlos; Araujo, Frederico G. (1990). Implementation of large hydroelectric dams. Strategies of the electricity sector; strategies of the affected populations. Travessia – Revista do Migrante, ano. II, n. 6, 1990.
  • Dam construction alters local biodiversity, displaces entire communities, and floods vast agricultural and forested areas: Fearnside, Philip (2015). Impacts of the Madeira River dams: Lessons not learned for hydroelectric development in the Amazon. Hydroelectrics in the Amazon: Environmental and Social Impacts on Decision-Making for Major Projects. Vol. 1 (pp.137-151). Editora do Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA); Fearnside, Philip (2019). Environmental justice and Brazil’s Amazonian dams. p.103-124. In: P.M. Fearnside (ed.) Hidrelétricas na Amazônia: Impactos Ambientais e Sociais na Tomada de Decisões sobre Grandes Obras. Vol. 3. Editora do INPA, Manaus. 148 p.
  • Numbers of affected people: LTD, E.; LONDON, S. DAMS AND DEVELOPMENT A NEW FRAMEWORK THE REPORT OF THE WORLD COMMISSION ON DAMS FOR DECISION – MAKING. [s.l: s.n.]. Available at: <https://awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wcd_dams_final_report.pdf>; Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. Health, water, energy, environment and work: Weaving knowledge to promote sustainable and healthy territories. Final Report – Phase 1 / Oswaldo Foundation Cruz. – Rio de Janeiro : Fiocruz, 2024. Available at: https://fiocruz.br/sites/fiocruz.br/files/documentos_2/fcmab_relatorio_completo_fase1.pdf
  • Number of dams in the country: AMAZONIAN NETWORK OF GEOREFERENCED SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION (RAISG). Atlas of pressures and threats in the Amazon. [S. l.]: RAISG, 2020. Available at: https://www.amazoniasocioambiental.org/. Accessed on: April, 2025.
  • Human Rights violations in relation to dams: Council for the Defense of the Rights of the Human Person. Special Commission “Affected by Dams” Resolutions 26/06, 31/06, 01/07, 02/07, 05/07. Available at: https://mab.org.br/publicacao/relatorio-violacao-de-direitos-das-populacoes-atingidas-cddph/
  • Brazilian Law on Rights of Dam-Affected People: Law no. 14.755, of December 15, 2023. (2023). Establishes the National Policy on the Rights of People Affected by Dams (PNAB); specifies the rights of People Affected by Dams (PAB); provides for the Program for the Rights of People Affected by Dams (PDPAB); establishes rules on the social responsibility of the entrepreneur; and repeals provisions of the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT), approved by Decree-Law No. 5,452, of May 1, 1943. Retrieved: https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2023-2026/2023/lei/L14755.htm

Further Reading:

  • MAR. (2021). EnMARcha Magazine No. 1. Available at: https://mab.org.br/publicacao/revista-enmarcha-no1/

Rivers and Hydropower in a Changing Climate

  • Hatamkhani et al. (2025): An integrated approach for assessing the economic impact of climate change on hydropower systems.
  • He et al. (2024): Hydropower impacts on riverine biodiversity.
  • IEA (2024): Renewables 2024. Analysis and forecast to 2030.
  • IEA (2025): Global Energy Review 2025.
  • Opperman et al. (2022): Using the WWF Water Risk Filter to Screen Existing and Projected Hydropower Projects for Climate and Biodiversity Risks.
  • Perera et al. (2021): Ageing Water Storage Infrastructure: An Emerging Global Risk. UNU-INWEH Report Series, Issue 11.
  • Ramiao et al. (2022): Hydropower Contribution to the Renewable Energy Transition under Climate Change.
  • WWF (2024): Living Planet Report 2024 – A System in Peril.

Hydropower – Dam(n)ed by Economics

The Myth of Clean Hydropower: Dams and Reservoirs Emit Greenhouse Gases and Make Climate Change Worse

Further reading:

Climate Banking on Dams: How Development Banks Back Problem Projects

Hydropower and Carbon Markets: Offsetting Responsibility

The Power of Free-Flowing Rivers: Restoring Life, Justice, and Climate Resilience