Release: Legal Toolkit to protect rivers from hydropower development

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We are happy to announce the release of our “Toolkit on how to use EU and international environmental law to protect rivers from hydropower development”. A product of the Lawyers for Rivers Initiative launched in 2018 by EuroNatur, GEOTA, Riverwatch, Wetlands International European Association and WWF Adria, the toolkit provides guidance to activists and civil society organisation in navigating the possibilities for legal actions in river protection.

READ THE TOOLKIT

In order to make way for the rapid development of hydropower, mandatory legal procedures and environmental impact assessment provisions are often sidestepped or not properly implemented. Analysing projects for their compliance with binding international environmental legislation has therefore become a valuable tool for preventing the construction of new hydropower projects.

The author, renowned Environmental and Energy Lawyer Malgorzata Smolak, offers readers with or without legal background an easy, accessible overview of the most relevant international laws and EU environmental regulations, which can be used to legally challenge new hydropower plants.

Join us as we present the toolkit next Thursday, 29 April (14-16h CET) in a webinar co-hosted by EuroNatur, Wetlands International Europe, Riverwatch and Client Earth. We will be happy to answer your questions and receive feedback on the toolkit. There will also be an opportunity for activists and NGOs to share and discuss their experiences with legal fights against hydropower projects. More information here!

REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR

For more Information:

Amelie Huber, EuroNatur: [email protected]

Malgorzata Smolak: [email protected]

Yurena Lorenzo, Wetlands International Europe: [email protected]

The toolkit and webinar are a product of the Lawyers for Rivers Initiative, conceived in the context of the “Save the Blue Heart of Europe” campaign and launched as part of the MAVA-funded “Anti Hydropower Platform” in 2018. Lawyers for Rivers aims to enable capacity building and exchange on experiences with legal activism for river protection.