One of the biggest risk management challenges currently facing project developers in emerging markets is the appropriate assessment and management of cumulative impacts and risks related to their business activities. Factors such as climate change and unpredictability of climate patterns, increasing and competing water use demands, decline of species biodiversity, degradation of ecosystem services, and changing socio-economic circumstances all add complexity to risk assessment and management. Potential system-wide consequences resulting from the combination of individual effects of multiple actions overtime are particularly important to understand better.
IFC helps companies and governments to consider the cumulative impacts of hydropower projects from a broad, basin-wide perspective that includes planned upstream and downstream developments. Our cumulative impact assessment (CIA) work in the hydropower sector spans from Lao PDR, to Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. In Lao PDR, we are embarking on the first CIA of the renewable energies sector in 2018.
This page shares resources and tools related to CIAs in the hydropower sector.
IFC Good Practice Handbook on Cumulative Impact Assessment and Management: Guidance for the Private Sector in Emerging Markets
Myanmar - Cumulative Impact Assessment of Renewable Energy in the Myitnge River Basin
Commencing in February 2019 this CIA follows on from the recommendations of the Strategic Environmental Assessment of the Hydropower Sector in Myanmar which include planning at the basin level, and conducting sub-basin cumulative impact assessments to determine the full impact of current and planned development in key areas.
Inception Workshop presentation
Information sheet - English
Frequently Asked Questions - English
Lao PDR - Cumulative Impact Assessment of Renewable Energy in the Sekong River Basin
Final Inception and Scoping Report
Information sheet - English /Lao
Frequently Asked Questions - English / Lao
Nepal
Presentation from Training Course on Cumulative Impacts of Hydropower Projects
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in Nepal
Environmental and Social Impact Assessments and Cumulative Impact Assessments
IFC Good Practice Handbook on Cumulative Impact Assessments: Six-step Approach
Cumulative Impact Assessment Step 4: Assess Impacts on VECs
Case Study: Gulpur Hydropower Project, Pakistan
Cumulative Impact Assessments: Determining the Significance of Impacts
Pakistan
Gulpur Hydropower Project: Cumulative Impact Assessment