129. Sustainability – The Imperative for Hydropower

Developed an developing countries alike have to confront the problem of climate change that is already having a significant, adverse, global impact. At the same time as the world is warming there are 2 billion people without access to electricity, including many in India. Access to basic, clean, and affordable energy services is essential for delivering on the Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people living in poverty. Meeting the need for more electricity in a carbon constrained world, however, presents us all with a demanding challenge. The question is how do we get from where we are now, with the ever growing threat of irreversible climate change, to where we want to be with greenhouse gas emissions reduced to their 1990 levels? In this context renewable energy, and particularly renewable energy in the form of hydropower, has a significant role to play. The test is whether hydropower projects can meet economic, social and environmental sustainability criteria. This paper will discuss these issues by drawing heavily on the learnings of Hydro Tasmania and the International Hydropower Association's Sustainability Guidelines and Compliance Protocol.