Peter Bosshard's blog

In ancient Israel, among other places, farmers conserved the fertility of their soils by letting their fields lay fallow every seventh year. Even the Bible mandates that "you may plant your land for six years and gather its crops. But during the seventh year, you must leave it alone and withdraw from it." Thus the concept of the Sabbath year was born.

In Beijing on a mission for our China global program, more doors are opening for us than in the past. The emerging picture is still confusing. Understanding the contradictions of China’s overseas investment policies can be as difficult as navigating a Beijing traffic jam.

A new report written by your blogger discusses China’s environmental footprint in Africa. Are Chinese investors Africa's new colonizers? Are they simply following the mold of Western investment? Or does China's investment offer new opportunities of South-South cooperation? This is a hot topic, and my report has already triggered controversial reactions.

A new report shows that investment in wind and solar energy surpassed support for large hydro projects in 2007. The World Bank has missed the trend on emerging renewable technologies, and continues to focus its support on large dams.

The ancient town of Hasankeyf will be flooded by the Ilisu Dam (peevishsoul)

Nigeria is being rocked by a huge corruption scandal. As President Yar’Adua recently revealed, the administration of his predecessor spent $16 billion on the power sector, but appears to have diverted much of the money. The ongoing investigation has unearthed interesting details about how corruption works in practice. The story involves dam builders from Germany, China and other countries and senior World Bank officials.

African governments have often praised Chinese investment as the panacea for their infrastructure sectors. Zambia’s experience demonstrates that it is not. A Chinese hydropower project on the Kafue River has brought up the whole conundrum of financial problems, environmental impacts, hydro dependency and delays that is typical for large dams.

With a capacity of 1,070 megawatts and a price tag of $1.45 billion, the Nam Theun 2 Dam in Laos is the biggest hydropower project that the World Bank has approved in more than ten years. A large reservoir and the diversion of the Theun River into another major river will affect more than 100,000 people, and the project’s benefits are unlikely to reach the country’s rural poor.

Here are some brief reviews of new publications which have crossed my desk in recent weeks: China in Africa – China’s New Dictatorship Diplomacy – Mother Jones Story on China and the Environment – China’s Involvement in Cambodia’s Hydropower Sector

We have received a lot of positive feedback to the launch of my new blog on international financial institutions and the environment. Encouraging comments have reached us from NGOs in China, Africa and other parts of the world, academics, journalists, government and World Bank officials.