Two of the world’s largest energy companies committed last week to assess the impacts of their hydropower projects using new voluntary guidelines to evaluate the economic, social, and environmental consequences of big dam projects. But civil society activists denounced the protocol as an attempt to “greenwash” the industry.
Électricité de France (EDF) said on Friday it would apply the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP), a voluntary scorecard for hydropower developers, to all new projects as part of a package of commitments made at the World Water Forum (WWF) in Marseille, France. It also said it would commission a scientific evaluation of its global water footprint, and either maintain or decrease it in years to come.
For more on this story, visit: Energy companies pledge to measure impacts of large dam projects | Global development | guardian.co.uk.