Research Area C Large Dams and “Clean Development” (C8)
Large Dams and ‘Clean Development’: Transcultural Narratives about Global Environmental Change and their Asymmetric Impacts”
Project Leader: Marcus Nüsser
Project Members: Alexander Erlewein
The current discussion about global warming and the possibility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through hydropower has given a new turn to the debate about large dams, resulting in the revival of this otherwise disputed technology. This trend becomes apparent in the massive financial support by which the international carbon trading scheme Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) subsidizes dam building in China and India where the number of so-called ‘carbon offsetting dams’ is increasing exponentially. The re-evaluation of the perception and the promotion of large dams through the CDM constitute an up-to-date example of how transcultural narratives on global environmental problems and mitigation strategies translate into national and international policies. The aim of the project was to identify the origins, to analyze the transformations, and to assess the asymmetric impacts of this latest turn in the large dam controversy.