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Chinese hydropower companies and environmental norms in countries of the global South: the involvement of Sinohydro in Ghana’s Bui Dam

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Abstract

The paper examines the role of environmental norms in Chinese overseas investment in hydropower dams, exemplified by Sinohydro’s involvement in the Bui Dam in Ghana. While the investment of Western companies in hydropower dams in the global South is decreasing owing to changing notions of sustainability in the West, the investment of Chinese companies in hydro dams in Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America is accelerating at great speed. The emergence of Chinese companies in international markets in the context of China’s Going Abroad strategy has sparked a debate on whether China can be considered a norm-changer in international development. The paper considers this question in the context of the status of environmental norms in Sinohydro’s investment in Ghana’s Bui Dam. The paper argues that the role of international norms in Chinese investment is dependent on two factors: the contractual arrangements under which Chinese companies operate abroad and the political institutions of host countries.

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Notes

  1. For a slightly different line of argument concerning a race to the bottom in labour standards between developing countries see Chan and Ross (2003).

  2. See Alden and Vieira (2005: 1078–1080) for their distinction between classic and new middle powers. For conceptual debates on the shifts in global power distribution see Young (2010), Ikenberry and Wright (2008), Alexandroff and Cooper (2010).

  3. Of course, there is also a clear strategic-political interest. For details see Taylor (1998), Ding (2008).

  4. For a summary of the debate on the concept of corporate social responsibility and its links to development see Prieto-Carrón et al. (2006), Jenkins (2005), Blowfield and Frynas (2005).

  5. For a history of the Bui project before the Chinese engagement see Fink (2005).

  6. Sinohydro also has to comply with the conditions that the Water Resources Commission attaches to its permits.

  7. Health and safety issues are important for the relationship between workers and Sinohydro but shall not be discussed at this point given the focus of the paper on the environment.

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  1. Department of Social Sciences, Northumbria University, Ellison Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK

    Oliver Hensengerth

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Hensengerth, O. Chinese hydropower companies and environmental norms in countries of the global South: the involvement of Sinohydro in Ghana’s Bui Dam. Environ Dev Sustain 15, 285–300 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-012-9410-4

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