The World Commission on Dams (WCD, 1998-2000) was an attempt to overcome conflicts between supporters and opponents of large dams, which had emerged around the world in the late 1980s and 1990s. It was created on the joint initiative of World Bank and IUCN and brought together activists, engineers, academics, and government officials who oversaw a global review of evidence around the impacts, planning and management of large dams. It also developed a series of recommendations that were meant to serve as guidelines for best practice.
In this webinar, Christopher Schulz discusses the WCD’s journey towards their consensual final report and its impacts, focusing both on WCD’s role for global dam policy and as its status as a model for global multi-stakeholder dialogue.
You may also be interested to read ‘Debating dams: The World Commission on Dams 20 years on‘ from Bill Adams and Christopher Schulz.