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dam-l ABB, press release from Berne Declaration and website of potential interest
Press release and website of potential interest.
cheers!
-Dianne
Forwarded message:
> From owner-irn-safrica@igc.org Wed Feb 25 12:44:43 1998
> Date: Wed, 25 Feb 1998 09:05:06 -0800 (PST)
> From: lori@irn.org (Lori Pottinger)
>
> The following, from colleagues at Berne Declaration in Switzerland, is
> about the giant engineering firm ABB and its record on dams. ABB is
> involved in the hydroppower component of the Lesotho Highlands Water
> Project.
>
> >Press release for immediate dissemination:
> >
> >NGOs review ABB's hydropower strategy
> >
> >Hydropower has become a high risk - low return industry. This is the
> >conclusion of an independent review of ABB's hydropower strategy which two
> >NGOs, the Berne Declaration and the Swedish Society for Nature
> >Conservation, published on February 25. The report recommends that ABB
> >reconsider its involvement in hydropower, and shift its focus to renewable
> >energy technologies.
> >
> >* * *
> >
> >Large dams have been controversial for many years. The NGO report, "High
> >Risk - Low Return?", identifies three trends which are now substantially
> >changing the hydro market. Public opposition to the social and
> >environmental impacts of hydropower is making dam construction increasingly
> >difficult. Official support for hydro projects both from multilateral and
> >bilateral sources is drying up. And private developers turn out to be
> >extremely hesitant to invest in large dam projects, which have become
> >associated with time and cost overruns. "Public opposition and the private
> >sector's premium on cost-efficiency are rapidly reducing the market
> >potential of large hydropower projects", said Nicholas Hildyard of Eco-Asia
> >Consultants Ltd., the author of the new report, at a press conference in
> >Zurich on February 25.
> >
> >ABB is one of the most competitive hydropower companies and has become
> >involved in many controversial projects such as Bakun, Three Gorges, and
> >Maheshwar. The new report presents evidence that the recent changes in the
> >hydro industry, and especially the economic downturn in South-East Asia,
> >are affecting ABB as well. "The new market trends create common ground
> >between investors who are concerned about long-term business interests and
> >NGOs", said Peter Bosshard, secretary of the Berne Declaration, a Swiss
> >NGO, at the Zurich press conference. "We are asking ABB to seriously
> >reconsider their continued involvement in hydropower", Bosshard said.
> >
> >The new report indicates that renewable energy technologies provide an
> >interesting market potential. According to the report, ABB, unlike many
> >competitors, has so far hardly tapped this potential. "We recommend that
> >ABB shift its focus from hydropower to renewable energies", Goran Eklof of
> >the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC) said on February 25.
> >
> >The Berne Declaration and SSNC announced on February 25 that they would
> >disseminate the report to interested analysts and shareholders. They said
> >they also intended to present their recommendations to ABB's Annual General
> >Meeting of April 2 in Zurich.
> >
> >* * *
> >
> >Please contact Peter Bosshard of the BD at (41 1) 271 64 25 or Goran Eklof
> >at (46 8) 70 26 582 for further information.
> >
> >The report, "High Risk - Low Return?" can be downloaded from the BD's
> >website at www.access.ch/evb/bd. Copies can be ordered at the Berne
> >Declaration, P.O. Box 1327, 8031 Zurich, Switzerland, fax (41 1) 272 60 60,
> >finance@evb.ch.
> >
> >The Berne Declaration (BD) is a Swiss public-interest group with 16,000
> >individual members. Through research, popular education and advocacy work,
> >it has promoted more equitable North-South relations since 1968. The
> >Swedish Society for Nature Conservation was founded in 1909. With its
> >170,000 members, it is the largest and oldest environmental organization in
> >Sweden. In the recent past, the BD and SSNC opposed ABB hydropower projects
> >such as Bakun.
> >
>
> =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
> Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
> International Rivers Network
> 1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
> Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
> http://www.irn.org
> =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
>
>