The World Commission on Dams and the Need for a New Development Paradigm

Responding to the unanimous recommendation of a multi-stakeholder workshop, the creation of the World Commission on Dams (WCD) was formally announced in February 1998. Financially supported by 53 public, private and civil society agencies, the twelve Commissioners released the WCD Final Report in London in November 2000. In this article a former Commissioner discusses the "WCD process" from its origin to the present. The contents of the final report are described, with special attention paid to the significance of the WCD's rights and risks approach as a first step toward a new development paradigm for an increasingly global, 21st century society.