United Nations Environment Programme

Resolution 2.19 Responding to the Recommendations from the World Commission on Dams

RECALLING Recommendations 18.56 ‘Namada Valley project, India´ adopted by the 18th Session ofthe General Assembly (Perth, 1990), 19.44 ‘Water regimes of rivers, floodplains and wetlands´ 19.73 ‘Paraguay-Parana Waterway project´ adopted by the 19th Session of the General Assembly (Buenos Aires, 1994), and 1.98 ‘Environmentally sustainable development of the Mekong River Basin´ adopted by the 1 st Session of the World Conservation Congress (Montreal, 1996);

ALSO RECALLING Recommendations 18.57 ‘Tehri dam project, India´, adopted by the 18th Session of the General Assembly (Perth, 1990) and 19.29 ‘Dam construction. Irrigation and water diversions´ adopted by the 19th Session of the General Assembly (Buenos Aires, 1994);

ACKNOWLEDGING the significant impact dams have had on human communities, riverine and wetland ecosystems, and biodiversity;

RECOGNIZING the potential for future dams to substantially affect human communities, riverine and wetland ecosystems, and biodiversity;

SUPPORTING the urgent need to ensure wise use of global water resources to meet the needs of society in an equitable and sustainable fashion;

NOTING the need to promote open, transparent, and accountable decision-making processes and to find cooperative ways of satisfying differing interests;

ACKNOWLEDGING the initiative taken by the Director General in 1997, in collaboration with the World Bank, to bring toge ther governments, the private sector, and civil society stakeholdersthrough the World Commission on Dams;

AWARE that the World Commission on Dams is undertaking a global review of large dams, and will develop criteria and guidelines for future assessment of dam alternatives and for dam planning, construction, and operation to be included in its final report to be released in November 2000; and

NOTING that many IUCN members have been actively involved in the World Commission on Dams processes – a key arena of public policy-makingthat has far-reaching consequences for energy and water resource management;

the World Conservation Congress at its 2nd Session in Amman, Jordan, 4-11 October, 2000:

1. REQUESTS the Council and Director General to take due note of the recommendations laid out in the Commission's report and to build follow-up activities into the current and future Component Programmes of the Union;

2. URGES all governments, IUCN members, and the Director General to bring the report to the attention of their respective constituencies, and to support regional, national, and local processes to consider the conclusions of the report at all levels;

3. REQUESTS the Council to:

(a) establish a Task Force, with membership comprising a balanced group, representative of stakeholders involved with dams, to review the report and advise the Union, its members, and partners, on ways of responding to the findings and recommendations of the World Commission on Dams; (b) mandate the Task Force to monitor the response to the Commission’s recommendations by governments, non-governmental organisations, public international financial institutions, and the private sector; and (c) encourage the Task Force to develop processes and partnerships with relevant public, private, and civil society institutions to undertake its work; and

4. REQUESTS the Director General to:

(a) define the Secretariat's continued role and involvement in any follow-up activitiesthat may arise as the mandate of the World Commission on Dams expires, recognising the Union's role in establishing the World Commission on Dams and its mandate; and (b) report to Council, IUCN members and partners, and the broader international community within two years of the 2 nd Session of the World Conservation Congress, and again at the 3rd Session of the World Conservation Congress, on the implementation of the recommendations, activities, and audit of the above Task Force.