The rapid expansion of hydropower dam developments in the Lower Mekong basin could undermine important regional supply chains and threaten the viability of multi-billion-dollar industries, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) claims in a new report.
While there has been a lot of attention on the environmental and social impacts of dam projects on the Mekong and its tributaries, the report, released yesterday, highlights the possible indirect negative impacts on five industries: energy production, fisheries and aquaculture, rice production, sand mining, and textiles and electronics.
The WWF report sets out to qualify the claims of some lower Mekong nations that hydropower is a key to untold economic growth, citing one estimate that dams could generate up to $33 billion of economic benefits. It claims that “these arguments have been based on the purported benefits to the energy sector, with little consideration, or understanding, of the implications for other economic sectors.”
In full: https://thediplomat.com/2023/10/hydropower-dams-threaten-crucial-mekong-supply-chains-wwf-says/
