The San José Declaration

COP26 starts officially October 31, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. I’m at the airport now waiting to board.

The hydropower industry is geared up to promote hydropower as the mitigation solution for the climate crisis. At the recent World Hydropower Congress held in September (virtually and in San José Costa Rica), the industry developed the San José Declaration on Sustainable Development, which members of the International Hydropower Association will deliver to the UNFCCC in attempt to reinforce their beliefs that dams will save us all from climate catastrophe.

Follow the link to the Declaration and you can “express your support” or “make a comment” - by which I suppose they may mean “express your disapproval” but in a nicely packaged fashion.

Meanwhile dams are being aggressively promoted in Indigenous territories throughout the US and around the world, completely ignoring any moral or ethical values or concerns of sustainability or with consideration of FPIC. How will the San José Declaration address those projects? It doesn’t. The corporations following the Declaration are those members of the IHA. IAH and Non-member hydropower industries may be encouraged to follow the guidelines set forth in the Declaration, but they are not held accountable for their destruction.

Check out the “sustainability” of Hydro QUebec’s project that busts through Indigenous territory in Maine. How is the Shasta dam project sustainable if it ignores the concerns of the Winnemem Wintu peoples? In what ways were the Navajo peoples concerns heard when permits were given to build hydropower projects on their lands to construct hydropower on the Little Colorado River without their consent?

What is sustainable when referring to hydropower? What impact will the promotion of hydro have on Indigenous communities who have not been consulted about development?

I’ll post updates from COP26 to let you know what I find out.