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WCC 2020 Res 134 - Activity Report

Submitted by Ian.Harrison on Thu, 06/15/2023 - 01:51
General Information
Protecting the Lower Congo River from large hydro-electric dam developments
IUCN Constituent: 
IUCN SSC Freshwater Conservation Committee 2021-2025
IUCN Constituent type: 
IUCN Species Survival Commission 2021-2025
Period covered: 
2023
Geographic scope: 
Africa
Country/Territory: 
Congo (DROC)
In implementing this Resolution your organization has worked/consulted with...
IUCN Members: 
Synchronicity Earth ( SE ) / United Kingdom
IUCN Commissions: 
IUCN Climate Crisis Commission 2022-2025 (CCC)
IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management 2021-2025 (CEM)
IUCN Commission on Education and Communication 2021-2025 (CEC)
IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic, and Social Policy 2021-2025 (CEESP)
IUCN Species Survival Commission 2021-2025 (SSC)
IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law 2021-2025 (WCEL)
IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas 2021-2025 (WCPA)
IUCN Secretariat: 
Yes
Other non-IUCN related organisations: 
American Museum of Natural History
Implementation
Indicate and briefly describe any actions that have been carried out to implement this Resolution: 
ActionDescriptionStatus
Convene stakeholders/NetworkingOperative statement (1) of the resolution calls on Commissions and Members to review the recommendations of the World Commission on Dams and other more recent documents and synthesize this into a contemporary set of recommendations for good practice. In 2022, following discussions between Synchronicity Earth, the SSC Freshwater Conservation Committee co-Chair (Ian Harrison), IUCN’s Secretariat and colleagues in the SSC, and in some other Member and non-Member organizations, it was determined that the creation of an Inter-Commissional Task Force on dams is the best way ahead to address this. In 2022 Synchronicity Earth and the SSC Freshwater Conservation Committee co-Chair Harrison drafted a concept note for the Task Force, with guidance from staff at the IUCN Secretariat and members of the SSC. This concept note includes a list of potential members for an initial advisory group for developing the Task Force. The document was reviewed by the SSC Chair’s Office in 2022, and in December 2022 was sent out to Chairs of all Commissions for review, and to identify potential points of contact for each Commission. The concept was also sent out to the SSC Steering Committee in early 2023. Comments from the Commissions and the SSC Steering Committee are being compiled. The next step is to contact potential advisory group members who have expertise in issues of dams and freshwater ecosystems, to request their interest in joining that group. Note that the final decisions on the strategy of the Task Force, and its membership, will be guided by that advisory group. The concept remains a draft until it has been reviewed by the selected advisory board. In June 2023 the SSC Chair’s office has requested that the concept be revised once more and sent out to the SSC Steering Committee a second time. To avoid delay, this will be done in parallel with establishing the advisory board who will have the primary role in refining the Task Force structure and function.On-going
Policy influencing/advocacyOperative statement (2) calls on the Director General to send a memo to the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo encouraging him to: a) support protection/restoration of Lower Congo ecosystems; b) balance development by enacting legal protections and governance for the Lower Congo; and c) ensure all contracts involving major infrastructure projects impacting the Lower Congo include a provision for local stakeholders to be included in planning. Following consultation with IUCN’s West/Central Africa Office, and the SSC Chair’s Office, in August 2022 a letter was signed by IUCN’s Director General, and sent to the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and copied to the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of the DRC to the United Nations Office in Geneva (as noted in the 2022 report provided by the Freshwater Conservation Committee). In 2022 and 2023 the Freshwater Conservation Committee received requests for updates on this action, from member/non-member IUCN organizations. In May 2023 the Director General Office confirmed that there had been no reply to that letter, and that the IUCN Secretariat has taken no further action. Therefore, the recommendation to IUCN Secretariat is that future action should be moved to the country level, with leadership from IUCN’s regional offices for West and Central Africa, to request comments and an update from Democratic Republic of Congo. This will assist in advancing the requirements of the Resolution.On-going
Policy influencing/advocacyOperative statement (3) asks the Species Survival Commission (SSC) to send a memo to the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo urgently informing him on the potential threats to the ecosystems of the Lower Congo that could be caused by the development plans for the dams. This part of the Resolution was addressed by having the SSC Chair countersign the letter with its accompanying Briefing Document, sent by the IUCN’s Director General. Therefore Operative statement 3 is covered by comments on Operative statement 2. On-going
What challenges have you encountered in implementing this Resolution and what measures have you taken to overcome them?: 
There has been no feedback on the response or further action from the very little feedback on the letter to the DRC government. This will be addressed as outlined above.
Identify and briefly describe what future actions are planned for the implementation of this Resolution: 
Future ActionDescription
Convene stakeholders/NetworkingFollowing review of the concept note for the Inter-Commissional Task Force on dams, the next stage is to convene the expert advisory group for finalizing structure and function of the Task Force, as outlined above.
Policy influencing/advocacyFollow the recommendation above to move follow-up on the letter to the DRC government to from the Director General's office to the country level, with leadership from IUCN’s regional offices for West and Central Africa