The Long and
Tortuous Path towards Sustainable
Energy
Large Dams Damned by World
Commission
The planet is now on the verge of
cataclysmic climatic change, with impacts
of a still largely uncalculated magnitude.
This climate change is directly linked to
the unchecked burning of fossil fuels for
over one century in order to provide
abundant energy supplies for industrial
processes and for billions of
consumers.
Yet after two weeks of harsh discussions
at the November Climate Summit in The
Hague, nothing positive was achieved. Thus
the global changes to the climate induced
mainly by energy production will continue,
threatening lives, livelihoods and habitats
all over the world. The main interests
preventing any progress on the
implementation of the commitments under the
Framework Convention on Climate Change and
its Kyoto Protocol are those of the big oil
and oil-consuming companies.
These big oil hungry companies,
including Exxon (which still denies that
climate change is even happening), Texaco
and DuPont, have tried all possible means
to block the implementation of effective
actions to limit emissions. At the same
time, they are preparing to profit from the
climate negotiations with the creation of a
gigantic carbon market, thus benefiting
from the very problem they have largely
caused. These companies, according to
FoEI’s statement at the closure of the
Climate Summit, "have tried to exploit the
talks to create huge new markets in carbon
trading, while using the power of their
political money to block effective action
against climate change in the US
Congress".
Several alternative technologies have
been developed during the 20
th
century that produce energy through less
polluting or more "sustainable" means:
nuclear reactors, hydroelectric dams, and
solar and wind generators have been
promoted as solutions to the quest to
provide safe and clean energy. But nuclear
reactors have developed more into a
nightmare than a dream, and solar and wind
generators are still far from being
economically competitive.
Big Dams Losing Power
Hydroelectric dams have been considered as
clean and renewable sources of energy for
several decades, but the social and
environmental impacts, especially of the
larger dams, have become so evident that
they are now considered to be extremely
damaging. The World Commission on Dams, a
World Bank and IUCN sponsored panel that
analyzed large dams all over the world over
a two-year period, recently concluded that
large dams have failed to produce as much
electricity, provide as much water, or
control as much flood damage as their
backers claim. In addition, these massive
projects regularly suffer huge cost
overruns and time delays. Furthermore, the
report of the World Commission on Dams
shows that:
-
large dams have forced 40-80 million
people from their homes and lands, with
impacts including extreme economic
hardship, community disintegration, and
an increase in mental and physical health
problems. Indigenous, tribal, and peasant
communities have been particularly hard
hit. People living downstream of dams
have also suffered from increased disease
and the loss of the natural resources
upon which their livelihoods
depended;
-
large dams cause great environmental
damage, including the extinction of many
fish and other aquatic species and huge
losses of forest, wetland and farmland;
and
-
the benefits of large dams have
largely gone to the already well-off,
while poorer sectors of society have
borne the costs.
Based on these conclusions, the
Commission recommends that:
-
no dam should be built without the
agreement of the affected people;
-
comprehensive and participatory
assessments of the needs to be met, and
alternatives for meeting these needs
should be developed before proceeding
with any new project;
-
priority should be given to
maximizing efficiency of existing water
and energy systems before building new
projects;
-
periodic participatory reviews should
be done for existing dams to assess such
issues as dam safety and possible
decommissioning;
-
mechanisms should be developed to
provide social reparations for those who
are suffering the impacts of dams and to
restore damaged ecosystems.
Thus, the quest for adequate and
sustainable energy sources continues. Civil
society organizations including FoEI are
leading the way in this search, as
sustainable energy is one of the conditions
for overall sustainability in human
societies. The Rios Vivos Coalition, of
which several FoE members are part, has
launched a year-long discussion process on
energy and transport with topics to
include:
-
an evaluation of the predominant
energy technologies and models and their
social and environmental impacts;
-
the systematization of information
about clean and renewable
alternatives;
-
a definition of strategies for the
transition towards a sustainable energy
model;
-
the strengthening of the work of
social movements, local communities and
NGOs working against unsustainable energy
projects or proposing sustainable
alternatives;
-
a definition of sustainable scenarios
for energy provision in the Southern Cone
of America to the year 2010.
The results of this process, which will
involve several workshops in the region,
will be presented for discussion and
adoption at the 2002 Rios Vivos
Congress.
Elías Díaz Peña,
FoE Paraguay
