The International Hydropower Association (IHA) has proposed the use of its Sustainability Guidelines and Compliance Checklist as selection criteria for clean development mechanism and joint initiative hydro schemes.
iha made its proposal to delegates of the Ninth Conference of the Parties (COP-9) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which met in Milan, Italy from 1-12 December.
The Association drew up the guidelines to help hydro power plant developers and operators deal with the environmental, social and economic problems encountered throughout the assessment, operation and management stages of hydroelectric schemes.
Adopted in November, the guidelines cover IHA policy; the role to be played by governments; the decision making process; and the issues of environmental, social and economic sustainability.
At the conference, IHA also launched a series of fact sheets outlining the benefits offered by following its guidelines. The fact sheets and sustainability guidelines can be viewed at www.hydropower.org