Hydropower Environmental & Social Performance Standards

completed

The project will support the adoption of best practice environmental and social (E&S) standards by the hydropower sector through the following activities: 1. Assist government bodies in developing and/or improving water and hydro-related policies, laws, and technical guidelines to promote the implementation of best practice E&S standards; 2. Work with local government bodies and other stakeholders to anticipate, evaluate and manage E&S risks associated with cumulative impacts from hydropower investments occurring in select river basins; 3. Support financial institutions that are investing in hydropower development to improve the way they assess their hydropower investments through awareness raising workshops, trainings and sector-specific guidelines; 4. Work with hydropower companies to provide them with tools, skills and expertise to develop and implement E&S management systems. A Hydropower Developers' Working Group will be formed nationally and linked to river basin hydropower forums to create a community of practice to support knowledge exchange and enable more transparency and accountability of the sector; 5. Provide capacity-building and public awareness and promote south-south collaboration on the application of E&S sustainability standards in the hydropower sector.