Request to meet about the Barro Blanco project during July 2013 visit to Panama

A group of international and local NGOs is urging the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to intervene in the Barro Blanco hydroelectric project in Panama. They claim the project threatens the Ngäbe people's territories, culture, and physical security, citing failures in environmental impact assessments and a lack of free, prior and informed consent. The coalition highlights state-sponsored violence against protestors and the Panamanian government's failure to implement a promised expert assessment of the project's impacts.

• The Barro Blanco hydroelectric dam on the Tabasará River is projected to cause significant environmental and social disruption, including the flooding of homes, schools, and cultural sites in the Ngäbe-Buglé comarca, and the conversion of a running river into a stagnant lake ecosystem.
• The project was registered under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in June 2011, despite claims from the Ngäbe and civil society that it failed to meet requirements for public participation, impact assessment, and sustainable development effects.
• There are reports of state-sponsored violence against those opposing the project, including a March 19, 2013 rally where police used rubber bullets and tear gas, followed by the murder of a Ngäbe man three days later.
• The Government of Panama has failed to fulfill a March 2012 agreement to conduct an expert assessment of the project's social, environmental, and economic impacts, having neither identified experts nor set a date for the assessment.
• The Ngäbe people face a lack of legal remedy as construction continues while a lawsuit challenging the environmental impact assessment (EIA) approval by the Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente (ANAM) remains pending due to procedural delays.

APA

Carbon Market Watch (2013). Request to meet about the Barro Blanco project during July 2013 visit to Panama. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/ANAYA-FINAL-FINAL-FINAL-LA2.pdf

Chicago

Carbon Market Watch. Request to meet about the Barro Blanco project during July 2013 visit to Panama. 2013. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/ANAYA-FINAL-FINAL-FINAL-LA2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Carbon Market Watch |title=Request to meet about the Barro Blanco project during July 2013 visit to Panama |date=14 June 2013 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/ANAYA-FINAL-FINAL-FINAL-LA2.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{carbonmarketwatch2013request, author = {{Carbon Market Watch}}, title = {{Request to meet about the Barro Blanco project during July 2013 visit to Panama}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2013}, month = jun, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/ANAYA-FINAL-FINAL-FINAL-LA2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }