News

Recording online: webinar SEA for sustainable hydropower

15 December 2021

What is it about? 

Despite its shortcomings, hydropower is expected to remain a global player in the energy sector. Both rapidly growing energy demand in low- and middle-income countries and the energy transition to renewable resources will undoubtedly contribute to its growth. So how can new hydropower projects be developed in such a way that best contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals?

Using Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) as a decision support tool can help avoid and mitigate the negative impacts of hydropower dam construction and operation. But does SEA deliver on its promises in practice? And what can be improved in the implementation of SEA to ensure that decision-making leads to more sustainable plans and projects?

This one hour webinar discusses lessons learnt and recommendations based on an evaluation of SEAs for hydropower development in Asia and Africa.* This is illustrated during two presentations, one on an SEA for national energy planning in Viet Nam and another one on an SEA for a regional catchment plan in Rwanda, both including hydropower development.

Speakers

  • Mr. Lothar Linde, an independent expert with over 15 years (SEA) experience in long and short-term projects for the Asian Development Bank, UNDP, the World Bank, and the African Development Bank.
  • Mr. François Xavier Tetero, former Head of Water Resources Management Department at the Rwanda Water and Forestry Authority where he led the management of water resources in Rwanda from 2017 to 2020.
  • Mr. Arend Kolhoff, Senior Technical Secretary of the NCEA with over 25 years of experience and a PhD in Environmental Assessment, particularly in developing countries. His current focus is on EA for energy planning and integration of climate change considerations in EA.

*For more information on the evaluation - including 5 cases, please see the publication Strategic Environmental Assessment for Sustainable Development of the Hydropower Sector: Five Influential Cases - India, Myanmar, Pakistan, Rwanda, Viet Nam