Mott MacDonald has been appointed by the World Bank to develop technical guidelines to improve climate resilience for the hydropower and dams development community. The guidelines will be a practical set of methods and insights that enable projects to be resilient to future climate change risks as they proceed to completion.
The ratification of the 2015 Paris Agreement has brought into law commitments to further mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt global infrastructure to climate changes already taking place. The new guidelines will be produced over the next 12 months and will clearly map out a workable process for incorporating climate change and disaster risk management into the project appraisal, design and operation of hydropower developments, a key component of low carbon energy.
Mike McWilliams, Mott MacDonald’s head of hydropower, said: “This is a very high profile appointment which further enhances both our working relationship with the World Bank and our credentials in sustainable hydropower. This assignment will also give us another opportunity to work closely with other international financial institutions and agencies, the International Hydropower Association (IHA), members of the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) and key industry stakeholders.”
Mott MacDonald’s global head of climate resilience Ian Allison added: “This project builds on our recent World Bank commission in the water and sanitation sector and keeps us at the leading edge of climate change appraisal and resilience planning.”
Once complete, the new guidelines will be disseminated at several high profile conferences, including ICOLD’s annual conference in Prague and the IHA world congress in Addis Ababa.