Un-Dam the United Nations! Tell the UN: Dams = methane emissions, displaced communities & extinction. Dams ≠ Carbon Offsets.
United Nations & Member Countries
The UN has already approved more than 2,000 hydroelectric projects as carbon offsets. This is unacceptable. Sign now to tell the UN and member nations: Dams don't belong in the Paris Agreement.
Why are dams a disaster?
Methane Emissions: Reservoirs from dams emit methane which is at least 30 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas.
Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Dams displace indigenous communities, submerge ancestral territory, and eliminate traditional food sources.
Fake Carbon Credits: Dam builders have sold carbon credits without accounting for methane emissions and for dams that would have been built without money from selling carbon credits.
Tell the UN: Do not allow carbon offset credits from hydroelectric dams within the Paris Agreement. Energy conservation and real renewables are the only path to a sustainable future.
Thank you!
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To:
United Nations & Member Countries
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[Your Name]
To UNFCCC & Member Countries:
Please do not authorize the use of carbon offset credits from hydroelectric dams within the Paris Agreement.
More than 2,000 hydroelectric projects were authorized to sell carbon offset credits under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the UN Kyoto Protocol. Please don't undermine the Paris Agreement with hydroelectric dam offsets.
Methane Emissions: Reservoirs created by dams are a major source of global methane emissions. Methane is at least 30 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas.
Carbon Credits that ≠ Emission Reduction: Under the CDM, many dam offset projects did not account for methane emissions. Meanwhile, carbon credit verifiers disregard clear evidence that some dam projects do not need to sell carbon credits to be completed.
Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Dams approved as CDM carbon offsets have displaced Indigenous communities, submerged ancestral homelands, and destroyed traditional, sustainable, carbon-neutral ways of life.
Climate Adaptation: Damming rivers eliminates subsistence food sources and undermines sustainable economic development. Climate adaptation goals of the Paris Agreement would be better served by protecting free flowing rivers and the people who depend on them.
Ecosystems & Water Quality: Dams block fish passage, create artificial lakes that harbor non-native species, promote harmful algal blooms, block sediments that are essential to maintain estuaries and coastal beaches, and impair water quality in rivers.
Water Storage: Water evaporation losses from reservoirs behind dams can be significant, sometimes exceeding consumptive water usage. It is more efficient and cost-effective to meet water supply needs through water conservation, water recycling, and by storing water in aquifers where it does not evaporate.
Dam Alternatives: Upgrading existing dams to produce more energy could negate the need for new dams. Solar, wind and geothermal can provide more cost-effective and socially responsible sources of energy.
The Paris Agreement includes ambitious goals related to global emission reduction, climate adaptation and resilience, sustainable development, and the protection of the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Dam offset projects directly undermine each of these goals.
Please do not allow carbon offset credits from dams within the Paris Agreement.
Thank you.