The role of hydropower in the broader context of climate change and sustainable development. Evidence from East Africa

Abstract

Clean energy is a prominent goal of the global agenda against climate change. Energy generation accounts for 72% of CO2 emissions, and while the link between energy production and a better livelihood is clear in the developmental literature, addressing climate change requires an exponential increase in investment towards renewable generation. Economic development and population growth will increase energy consumption levels, especially in developing countries in Asia and Africa. With the greatest share of population without access to electricity, sub-Saharan Africa has received much attention regarding the impacts of providing electricity access on health, education, and labor. 1.37 billion people live in Africa with some estimates indicating up to 4.28 billion people by 2100. Hydroelectric generation already contributes to 80% of world renewable electricity production and an important share in low and middle-income countries' energy mix with 40% of hydropower capacity under construction or planned there. Apart from cheap, clean, and sustainable electricity, hydropower also limits the effects of droughts and floods, but it also entails different risks of environmental degradation and socio-economic side-effects. This thesis will analyze trade-offs and synergies between the affordability and the socio-economic and environmental impacts of hydroelectricity generation and dam-building in the context of selected African countries. The goal is to derive some lessons learnt regarding the general knowledge surrounding the benefits and risks of dam-building in developing countries while providing some measures of the possible impacts of climate change on future electrical generation.