france: damning big dams
sébastien
godinot, foe france
Three gorges dam,
China
In 2003, the United Nations
International Year of Water, Friends of the
Earth France will launch a campaign against
big dams. But why such a campaign in
France, where big dams are no longer being
built? The answer is that there are three
major players from France with huge
responsibilities in the global mega-dam
arena.
The French company Alstom is the world’s
largest constructor of big dams. It is
currently involved in the Bakun Dam in
Malaysia, the Yusufeli Dam in Turkey, the
Maheshwar Dam in India, and the Three
Gorges Dam in China. If completed, the
Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River will
be the planet’s largest hydroelectric dam.
Its reservoir will stretch over 600
kilometers, and it will displace up to 1.9
million people. To justify its involvement
in Three Gorges, Alstom stresses that “the
Chinese government began the project, not
Alstom”, and “the products we sell are safe
for the environment and the
population”.
Risky projects like big dams are usually
backed by the French export credit agency
COFACE. In direct contradiction with the
commitments made by the French government
during the 2002 Johannesburg Earth Summit,
public money is being used to support
projects with very poor environmental
standards and no social standards
whatsoever. COFACE is involved in Three
Gorges, Yusufeli, and the Nam Theun Dam in
Laos to name just a few.
Another public body is involved in dams:
the French Development Agency, AFD, which
has environmental and social standards
almost as weak as those of COFACE. AFD
finances the Nam Theun Dam in Laos.
Friends of the Earth will ask Alstom,
the French government and its AFD and
COFACE agencies to adopt the
recommendations of the World Commission on
Dams. This independent international body,
consisting of governments, industry,
academics and civil society, has drawn up
best practice guidelines for the hydro
industry which recognize the environment
and the fundamental rights of people living
in dam-affected communities.
more information
:
read
the press release about the Nam Theun
dam
www.amisdelaterre.org
World Commission on Dams:
www.dams.org
International Rivers Network:
www.irn.org
