The Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP) is a global framework for assessing the

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of ...

projects. The Protocol defines good and best practice at each stage of the life-cycle of a hydropower project across twenty-four environmental, social, technical and economic topics. The Protocol was developed between 2007 and 2010 by a multi-stakeholder forum made up of representatives from industry,

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.developing country A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreeme ...

governments and

financial institution Financial institutions, sometimes called banking institutions, are business entities that provide services as intermediaries for different types of financial monetary transactions. Broadly speaking, there are three major types of financial inst ...

s. The final version was published in 2010 after a trial period in sixteen countries. The Protocol was updated in 2018 to include good and best practice in

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

resilience Resilience, resilient, resiliency, or ''variation'', may refer to: Science Ecology * Ecological resilience, the capacity of an ecosystem to recover from perturbations ** Climate resilience, the ability of systems to recover from climate change * ...

and mitigation. After the Protocol's launch, the governance entity of the Protocol approved the development of two additional tools derived from the HSAP, the Hydropower ESG Gap Analysis Tool (HESG Tool) to identify gaps against basic good practice and the Hydropower Sustainability Guidelines on Good International Industry Practice (HGIIP Guidelines), a reference document presenting definitions relating to good and best industry practice.

Application

Background

The construction of a dam, power plant and

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contr ...

creates social and physical changes in the surrounding area. As a result, hydropower projects can have both a positive and a negative environmental and social impacts. The sustainability of the hydropower sector was the subject of a report by the World Commission on Dams in 2000. The HSAP was developed in response to the Commission's recommendations, as well as standards set out in the Equator Principles,

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

Safeguard Policies, IFC Performance Standards and sustainability guidelines developed by the International Hydropower Association (IHA).

Purpose

The Protocol is used by different hydropower stakeholders for different reasons: * Independent review of sustainability issues * Guiding improvement of sustainability practice * Comparison with international best practice * Communication with stakeholders * Facilitating access to finance * Preparing clients to meet bank requirements * Reducing investment risk

Users

Crédit Agricole Crédit Agricole Group (), sometimes called La banque verte ( en, The green bank) due to its historical ties to farming, is a French international banking group and the world's largest cooperative financial institution. It is France's second lar ...

, Societe Generale,

Standard Chartered Standard Chartered plc is a multinational bank with operations in consumer, corporate and institutional banking, and treasury services. Despite being headquartered in the United Kingdom, it does not conduct retail banking in the UK, and around 9 ...

Citi Citigroup Inc. or Citi (stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomer ...

, and

UBS UBS Group AG is a multinational investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Co-headquartered in the cities of Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres as the largest Swi ...

now refer to the Protocol in their sector guidance. The

has analysed the value of the Protocol for use by their clients, concluding that it is a useful tool for guiding the development of sustainable hydropower in developing countries. The International Institute for Environment and Development has reviewed social and environmental safeguards for large dam projects, concluding that the Protocol currently offers the best available ‘measuring stick’ for the World Commission on Dams provisions.

Process

A Protocol assessment takes place over a one-week period at the project site and provides a rapid sustainability check. A Protocol assessment does not replace an environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA), which takes place over a much longer period of time as a mandatory regulatory requirement. A Protocol assessment will, amongst other things, check the scope and quality of the ESIA which has been done. To ensure high quality, all commercial use of the Protocol is carried out by accredited assessors. These assessors have significant experience of the hydropower sector or relevant sustainability issues, and have passed a rigorous accreditation course.

Scope

Tools

The Protocol can be used at any stage of hydropower development, from the early planning stages through to operation. Each project stage is assessed using a different tool: * The early stage tool, a screening tool for potential hydropower projects * The preparation tool, which covers planning and design, management plans and commitments. * The implementation tool, used through the construction phase. * The operation tool, used on working projects.

Topics

The Protocol covers a range of topics that need to be understood to assess the overall sustainability of a hydropower project.

Social aspects

*Communications and consultation *Project benefits *Project affected communities and livelihoods *Resettlement *

Indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

*Labour and working conditions *Public health *Cultural heritage

Environmental aspects

*Environmental and social issues management *

Biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity'') ...

and invasive species *Climate change mitigation and resilience *

Erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is d ...

and

sedimentation Sedimentation is the deposition of sediments. It takes place when particles in suspension settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained and come to rest against a barrier. This is due to their motion through the fluid in response to the ...

*Water quality *Waste, noise and air quality *

Reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contr ...

planning / preparation and filling / management *Downstream flow regimes

Business aspects

Governance Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, norms, power or language of an organized society over a social system ( family, tribe, formal or informal organization, a territory or across territories). It is done by the g ...

Procurement Procurement is the method of discovering and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. When a government agency buys goods or s ...

*Integrated project management *Financial viability *Economic viability

Technical aspects

*Demonstrated need and strategic fit *Siting and design *Hydrological resource *Asset reliability and efficiency *Infrastructure safety The Protocol also includes ‘cross-cutting issues’ such as

gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most culture ...

, and

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

, which feature in multiple topics.

Criteria

For each sustainability topic, performance is assessed against a range of criteria at two levels: basic good practice and proven best practice.

Table 2: Criteria requirement at different levels.

History

A multi-stakeholder forum developed the Protocol between 2008 and 2010. The following key group were represented: social and environmental NGOs, governments of developed and developing countries, financial institutions, development banks, and the hydropower industry. The forum jointly reviewed, enhanced and built consensus on what a sustainable hydropower project should look like. Policies taken into account included the World Commission on Dams’ Criteria and Guidelines, World Bank Safeguard Policies, IFC Performance Standards, and the Equator Principles. A draft of the Protocol was released in 2009, which was trialled in 16 countries across six continents and subjected to further consultation involving 1,933 individual stakeholders from 28 countries. The final version was produced in 2010. The diversity of the forum was important to ensure that the Protocol became globally applicable and universally accepted. Diversity also ensured that the multiple perspectives and stakeholder interests surrounding a hydropower project were incorporated into the document.

Governance

The Protocol is governed by a multi-stakeholder body, the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Council (HSA Council). The mission of the Council is to ensure multi-stakeholder input and confidence in the Protocol's content and application. All individuals and organisations engaged in hydropower are welcome and encouraged to join the Council. This approach to governance ensures that all stakeholder voices are heard in the shaping of the use of the Protocol and its future development. The Council consists of a series of Chambers, each representing a different segment of hydropower stakeholders. Each chamber elects a chair and alternate chair for a two-year term. The chamber chairs come together regularly to form the decision-making Protocol Governance Committee.

References

{{Reflist Environmental design Sustainability metrics and indices Environmental law Hydroelectricity Sustainable design Technology assessment Environmental impact assessment Environmental social science concepts