Hydropower and sustainability: Resilience and vulnerability in China's powersheds

McNally, Amy; Magee, Darrin; Wolf, Aaron T.

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2008.07.029

Cited by 84 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Instead, the basin becomes a unit whose boundaries are fluid and dependent on the issue in question. Taking account of this problem, Magee coined the term 'powershed' to argue that the watershed is an insufficient analytical unit as companies from outside the dam locality are involved in construction and as the energy is shipped to urban centres outside the watershed, thus involving political-economy processes that go beyond a narrowly defined watershed (Magee, 2006;McNally, Magee, & Wolf, 2009). This calls for transcending the ecological and political limits of the river basin.…”

Section: Authority In a Transnational Policy Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Where is the power? Transnational networks, authority and the dispute over the Xayaburi Dam on the Lower Mekong Mainstream

Hensengerth

2015

Water International

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Accounts of hydro-hegemony and counter hydro-hegemony provide state-based conceptions of power in international river basins. However, authority should be seen as transnationalized as small states develop coping strategies to augment their authority over decision-making processes. The article engages Rosenau's spheres of authority concept to argue that hydro-hegemony is exercised by actors embedded in spheres of authority that reshape actor configurations as they emerge. These spheres consist of complex networks challenging customary notions of the local-global dichotomy and hydro-hegemony. Hydro-hegemony is therefore not fixed. The article examines these processes by analysing the dispute over the Xayaburi Dam in the Mekong Basin.

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Section: Authority In a Transnational Policy Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Where is the power? Transnational networks, authority and the dispute over the Xayaburi Dam on the Lower Mekong Mainstream

Hensengerth

2015

Water International

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“…McNally et al [37] argue that this investment should also be understood as exporting Chinese policies, expertise and ideologies, as discussed above, into developing countries. China has gone from having very few investments in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar to becoming all three countries' largest foreign direct investor [38].…”

Section: Chinese Soe Hydropower Expansion In the Greater Mekong Subrementioning

confidence: 99%

Chinese State-Owned Enterprise Investment in Mekong Hydropower: Political and Economic Drivers and Their Implications across the Water, Energy, Food Nexus

Matthews¹,

Motta

2015

Water

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Over the last decade, Chinese State-Owned Enterprises have emerged as among the most active investors in Mekong Basin hydropower development. This paper uses a political economy analysis to examine the forces that drive Chinese State-Owned Enterprises to invest in hydropower in the Mekong Basin. We focus our analysis on the Lancang (Upper Mekong River) in China and in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), with an emphasis on Cambodia. The analysis reveals how powerful political and economic forces from within China and the GMS influence the pace, location and scale of investments in hydropower. These forces include foreign exchange reserves, trade packages and foreign direct investment, and political alliances. Combining the political economy and nexus approaches, we conclude that although policies from China recognize interconnections across the nexus, political and economic forces craft narratives that downplay or disregard these nexus interconnections and trade-offs. This in turn, influences how trade-offs and interconnections in hydropower development are managed and recognized in both local and transboundary contexts, thereby, creating potentially significant negative impacts on livelihoods, food security and the environment.

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“…For example, it has been acknowledged that poor, marginalized, minority peoples are particularly vulnerable to the effects of dams and displacement (Cernea 2000, Zahran et al 2008, Mustafa et al 2011, and that poor farmers from minority ethno-linguistic groups are especially vulnerable to challenges resulting from resettlement (Brown et al 2009). From a geopolitical perspective, researchers have analyzed hydropolitical vulnerability as the potential for political dispute in river basins where the water resources are shared among stakeholders (McNally et al 2009). …”

Section: Background On Vulnerability As a Framework For Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Biophysical, Socioeconomic, and Geopolitical Vulnerabilities to Hydropower Development on the Nu River, China

Tullos¹,

Foster-Moore²,

Magee³

et al. 2013

E&S

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ABSTRACT. Rapid hydropower development is occurring in China's Yunnan province in response to increasing clean energy demands, exposing potential vulnerabilities of the area's ecosystems, communities, and geopolitical systems. Here, we present original data on the cultures, economics, hydro-politics, and environments of the Nu River basin, based on household surveys, analysis of geopolitical events, and hydrological, hydraulic, and landscape modeling. We identify sources of vulnerability and investigate relationships among biophysical, socioeconomic, and geopolitical elements that contribute to vulnerability. Our results illustrate the role of geographic isolation in intensifying vulnerability to hydropower development and how access to information, data uncertainty, and geopolitics influence the vulnerability of people and the environment. We emphasize specific needs for developing support mechanisms for social, ecological, and political groups that are vulnerable to hydropower development.

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Hydropower and sustainability: Resilience and vulnerability in China's powersheds

Cited by 84 publications

References 12 publications

Where is the power? Transnational networks, authority and the dispute over the Xayaburi Dam on the Lower Mekong Mainstream

Where is the power? Transnational networks, authority and the dispute over the Xayaburi Dam on the Lower Mekong Mainstream

Chinese State-Owned Enterprise Investment in Mekong Hydropower: Political and Economic Drivers and Their Implications across the Water, Energy, Food Nexus

Biophysical, Socioeconomic, and Geopolitical Vulnerabilities to Hydropower Development on the Nu River, China

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