Dams are still often seen as a source of 'clean energy', even though they have disastrous environmental and social consequences. Even the promise of climate-friendly energy production is not fulfilled, because in fact dams are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions - 'clean energy' turns out to be a driver of both climate change and social conflict. Nevertheless, mega-dams in particular have continued to advance globally in recent years. An interdisciplinary special issue of the journal Sustainable Development, now fully open access, is dedicated to dams as a social phenomenon. The special issue is the fruitful result of a collaboration between researchers from the Centre for Global Cooperation Research, the Institute for Development and Peace (both University of Duisburg-Essen) and the Division of History, Heritage and Politics at the University of Stirling. It vividly shows the profound social hopes and conflicts associated with large dams.

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The controversial Three Gorges Dam in the Yangtze River in China (Photo: Hugh, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/)
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Both industrialised and emerging countries are building mega-dams to use natural water resources and generate energy. But large hydropower plants are experiencing a renaissance, especially in low- and middle-income countries with a strong increase in energy demand. For their proponents, dams are presented as a kind of panacea that promises to combine the three pillars of sustainable development: economic growth, social well-being and environmental sustainability. Dams therefore also often attract private and public investment. At the same time, however, they are usually associated with massive protests and political disputes. For planned mega-projects, public national and multinational funding agencies such as the World Bank have repeatedly refused or withdrawn their support because they would entail all too serious negative environmental and social impacts, including the destruction of unique natural habitats, the extinction of endemic species, the reduction of biodiversity and widespread violations of human rights. Resettlement and development plans involving the redistribution of land, forest or water resources are often used by governments as nation-building strategies, which repeatedly makes it impossible for indigenous peoples in particular to maintain their livelihoods. The social and environmental standards followed by many investors in dam construction are usually weak and too vague to actually prevent negative consequences for people and ecosystems, as different case studies in the special issue show. Even basic individual protection rights often fail due to the ideologically charged politics of dam building. This also applies to the approach of corporate due diligence for human rights, which has moved strongly into the public consciousness in recent debates on mandatory due diligence laws, but so far offers no guarantee of effective human rights protection in the practice of dam investments.