As the world pivots towards low-carbon energy generation, hydropower is once again in the spotlight. The hydropower industry recognizes that new plants will only be viable with strong social acceptance and that benefit sharing is a way to build support. But the concept is not yet widely understood, and successful examples remain rare.
This policy brief focuses on hydropower's potential for contribution while considering implications for displaced people. It shows that benefit sharing should be thought of as a sustainability intervention, which has additional and long-term positive impacts on project-affected people, well beyond compensation for lost assets.
Increasing the social acceptance of hydropower through benefit-sharing agreements, the report says, requires building long-term partnerships with resettled people, establishing appropriate institutional arrangements and investing a proportion of hydropower revenues over the long term.