Laos: Nam Theun 2 Project

Posted: 30-Mar-2005; Updated: 15-Mar-2006

	Phonesavang villagers in the Nakai Peninsula would be relocated by the dam.

In 2005, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank approved support for a controversial dam in Laos, despite the fact that the government's capacity to manage the project's massive economic, social, and environmental risks remains in question. Civil society organizations have no confidence that the Nam Theun 2 project will deliver its promised benefits or that the project's risks can be managed.

Check out the following links to field reports, analysis of the project, and letters to the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, relating to multilateral development banks' funding and oversight of this project and its impacts.

FIND OUT MORE

	Letter to Mr. Mohinder Gulati, Nam Theun 2 Project Manager, The World Bank Group  and Mr. John Cooney, Director, Infrastructure Division, Asian Development Bank [PDF] – from Environmental Defense and International Rivers Network (February 2006)
	Letter to Mr. Rajat Nag, Director General, Mekong Department, Asian Development Bank [PDF] – from Environmental Defense and International Rivers Network (January 2005)
	Why Nam Theun 2 Will Not Help the Poor in Laos [PDF]  -  (3/30/2005)
	Letter to Mr. James Wolfensohn, President, The World Bank [PDF] - From 153 civil society organizations from 42 countries, including Environmental  Defense (3/14/2005).  The letter writers urge the World Bank to refuse to provide guarantees and credits for the Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project in Laos. This project does not meet the World Bank's environmental and social standards.
	Summary: Nam Theun Techncial Reviews [PDF]  -  (3/14/2005)
	Full Report - An Analysis of Nam Theun 2 Compliance with World Commission on Dams Strategic Priorities [PDF] (2/2005) Authors: Aviva Imhof, International Rivers Network (USA), and Shannon Lawrence, Environmental Defense (USA)
	Executive Summary - An Analysis of Nam Theun 2 Compliance with World Commission on Dams Strategic Priorities [PDF] (2/2005) Authors: Aviva Imhof, International Rivers Network (USA), and Shannon Lawrence, Environmental Defense (USA)
	Letter to the World Bank About the Nam Theun 2 Project Economics Interim Summary Report [PDF] - Authors: Aviva Imhof, International Rivers Network (USA), Witoon Permpongsacharoen, TERRA (Thailand), and Shannon Lawrence, Environmental Defense (USA) (11/11/2004)

Past as Prologue: OED Assessment of World Bank Reform Progress in Laos [PDF] - Shannon Lawrence (October 2004)

	Civil Society Summary of the World Bank's Technical Workshops on Nam Theun 2 [PDF] - Held in Bangkok, Tokyo, Paris and Washington, DC (October 2004) (107 Kb pdf)
	Press Backgrounder: Controversial Lao Dam Not Suitable for World Bank Support [PDF] (9/08/04)
	Slideshow: Displacement in Laos
	Article: Lost in Transition - Summary of December 2003 fact-finding trip
	Trip Report: NGO Visit to the Proposed Nam Theun 2 Hydroelectric Project in Laos [PDF] - Shannon Lawrence, Environmental Defense (USA); Mishka Zaman, Bank Information Center (USA); Jaroslava Colojacomo, Campagna per la riforma della Banca Mondiale (Italy), and Sebastien Godinot, Friends of the Earth (France) (2/27/2004) (598 Kb pdf)