Chinese-built dam projects failing on environmental standards, green group International Rivers warns
- International Rivers says companies are falling well short of the mark on impact assessments and community consultation
Major Chinese state-owned developers are failing to meet basic environmental and social standards as they build massive dam projects around the world, US-based non-profit International Rivers has warned.
In a new report “Watered Down”, the organisation said many of the Chinese companies fell short of accepted international social and ecological standards, such as those set by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation.
The researchers also found that the firms “routinely compromise social and environmental objectives and disregard their stated policies to keep to schedule and on budget”.
“If companies want to be considered standard-bearers in the sector, they must require that certain conditions are met before entering into a project,” said Josh Klemm, International Rivers policy director and co-author of the report.
“Basic steps like requiring disclosure of impact assessments, or foregoing projects that would impact Unesco sites, should be non-negotiable.”
The report was based on interviews and site visits to seven power dam projects in Uganda, Ivory Coast, Pakistan, Laos, Chile and Cambodia between 2016 and 2019.
All but one of the projects – the AES-built Alto Maipo project in Chile – were constructed by Chinese firms, who together account for two-thirds of the big dams built around the world.