Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Wind, hydro and other renewables · Colombia · 2016–2022

Hidroituango dam and the Ríos Vivos defenders (Colombia)

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
People
  • At least 2 people died.
    Two Ríos Vivos members killed on 2 and 8 May 2018, together with relatives of both (number of relatives not given).
  • Thousands people were displaced or listed for relocation.
    People who lost their homes in the 2018 crisis, per AIDA; no figure given.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 3 insufficient · 1 not measured · 1 disputed See the gaps

Two members of Ríos Vivos, a movement that opposed the Hidroituango dam in Colombia, were killed in May 2018, weeks before communities complained to the Inter-American Development Bank, which had financed the dam. The bank group's private-sector arm exited the project in February 2022; no court outcome for the killings was found.

US$550m (2016) / US$1bn (2018)Financing from the Inter-American Development Bank group
US$550 million from the IDB in 2016 and a US$1 billion package put together by IDB Invest in 2018; lenders in the 2018 package included CDPQ, ICBC and KfW IPEX. How the two figures relate is not stated.

Status As of February 2022: EPM prepaid and IDB Invest exited; the complaints-mechanism review continued and no court outcome was found for the 2018 killings.

What?
Two members of the Ríos Vivos movement, which opposed EPM's Hidroituango dam, were killed in May 2018, together with relatives of both; communities complained to the IDB, which had financed the dam, and IDB Invest exited in 2022. Amnesty International
Where?
Hidroituango dam, Colombia; the owner is the public utility company of Medellín. Rights in Development
When?
IDB financing in 2016 and 2018; killings on 2 and 8 May 2018; complaint on 5 June 2018; IDB Invest exit in February 2022. AIDA
Who?
Gained
  • EPM (dam owner) — Received a US$1 billion financing package put together by IDB Invest in 2018, with lenders including CDPQ, ICBC and KfW IPEX. Rights in Development
Lost
  • Communities in the dam area — Thousands of people lost their homes in the 2018 crisis. AIDA
Harmed
  • Ríos Vivos members and relatives — Hugo Albeiro George Pérez and Luis Alberto Torres Montoya were killed in May 2018, together with relatives of both. Amnesty International
  • Cauca River — Flow fell to about 10% when the dam's gates were closed, per a review of hydropower impacts.
Why?
The motive for the killings is not established in the sources reviewed; the two victims were members of a movement that opposed the dam, and the sources do not state who ordered or carried out the killings. Amnesty International
How?
The dam was financed by the IDB (US$550m, 2016) and by a US$1bn package put together by IDB Invest (2018) with CDPQ, ICBC and KfW IPEX as lenders; EPM prepaid and IDB Invest exited in 2022 while the complaints-mechanism review continued. AIDA
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Hidroituango is a hydroelectric dam in Colombia owned by EPM, the public utility company of Medellín. It was opposed by the Ríos Vivos movement.

The record gives two financing figures. In 2016, while Luis Alberto Moreno was president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the bank provided US$550 million; the sources call it both a loan and a direct investment. In 2018 IDB Invest, the bank group's private-sector arm, put together a US$1 billion package; lenders included CDPQ, ICBC and KfW IPEX.

In 2018 a crisis at the dam left thousands of people without their homes, according to AIDA. A review of hydropower impacts reported that the flow of the Cauca River fell to about 10% when the dam's gates were closed; the underlying study is not identified.

On 2 May 2018 Hugo Albeiro George Pérez and on 8 May 2018 Luis Alberto Torres Montoya, both members of Ríos Vivos, were killed, together with relatives of both, Amnesty International reported. No court outcome was found.

On 5 June 2018 communities affected by the dam filed a complaint with the IDB, AIDA reported. In February 2022 EPM prepaid its loans and IDB Invest exited the project; AIDA had called for the exit to be responsible. The review of IDB Invest by the IDB's complaints mechanism (MICI) continued after the exit.

Moreno, IDB president from 2005 to 2020, has been a director of Dow since 2021 (Dow proxy statement) and is listed among the directors of WWF-US.

  1. 2016IDB provides US$550m for the dam, under IDB president Luis Alberto Moreno
  2. 2018Two Ríos Vivos members killed (2 and 8 May); communities file complaint with the IDB (5 June); IDB Invest puts together a US$1bn package (lenders include CDPQ, ICBC, KfW IPEX); crisis leaves thousands without homes
  3. 2022EPM prepays; IDB Invest exits the project in February; MICI review of IDB Invest continues

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Terms of IDB Invest's exit from the project
Communities and civil society
AIDA

Called on the IDB to guarantee a responsible exit from the Hidroituango project.

AIDA
International bodies
IDB Invest

Exited the project in February 2022 after EPM prepaid its loans; the complaints-mechanism (MICI) review of IDB Invest continued.

AIDA

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

    Recorded

    • Hugo Albeiro George Pérez (2 May 2018) and Luis Alberto Torres Montoya (8 May 2018), both Ríos Vivos members, were killed, together with relatives of both.
      Amnesty International
    • IDB Invest put together a US$1bn package in 2018; lenders included CDPQ, ICBC and KfW IPEX.
      Rights in Development
    • Communities affected by the dam filed a complaint with the IDB on 5 June 2018.
      AIDA
    • EPM prepaid and IDB Invest exited in February 2022; the MICI review of IDB Invest continued.
      AIDA
    • Luis Alberto Moreno, IDB president from 2005 to 2020, has been a Dow director since 2021.
      Dow Inc.
    • WWF-US lists Luis Alberto Moreno among its directors.
      WWF-US

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    1. 2018-06-05–Ongoing
      Complaint to the IDB's complaints mechanism (MICI)
      IDB / MICI · International court · Communities affected by the Hidroituango dam, supported by AIDA → IDB Invest

      Communities filed a complaint with the IDB on 5 June 2018. The MICI review of IDB Invest continued after the bank's February 2022 exit; no outcome was found. AIDA

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What nature saw

    Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

    Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

    Cauca River flow after the gates closed
    about 10%
    As reported in a review of hydropower impacts; the underlying study is not identified
    People who lost their homes in the 2018 crisis
    thousands
    AIDA, June 2018
    Court outcome for the killings
    None found
    No court outcome was found
    Financier exit
    Feb 2022
    IDB Invest exited after EPM prepaid its loans

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
    Deaths reportedDisplacement reportedNo court case

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Accounts

    • Disputed Terms of IDB Invest's exit from the project

    Record

    • None on record No court outcome was found for the May 2018 killings.
    • None on record The relationship between the US$550 million IDB provision (2016) and the US$1 billion IDB Invest package (2018) is not stated; the sources call the 2016 amount both a loan and a direct investment.
    • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: a fine linked to the project was annulled. The issuing authority, amount, date and grounds are not stated; one account says Colombia's national licensing authority ANLA fined the project about 5,500 million pesos and that a first-instance court annulled the fine on procedural grounds.
    • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: ANLA found that construction of the discharge gallery began 13 months before the licence was modified; the national audit office (Contraloría) criticised ANLA in August 2018 for applying no sanction despite violations and granting new deadlines.
    • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: that Moreno also sat on the board of Allen & Co in 2021–2022.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not established. IDB Invest exited the project in February 2022 after EPM prepaid its loans; the review by the IDB's complaints mechanism continued after the exit, and the sources do not describe any change in the project itself.

    Who paid?

    Not established. Two Ríos Vivos members and relatives of both were killed in May 2018 and thousands of people lost their homes in the 2018 crisis; no court outcome was found, and the sources do not document who bore any costs of harm.

    Sources

    Voices on record: ✓ Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Company or project

    Communities and civil society

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Institutions

    IDB
    The Inter-American Development Bank.

    Bonds and banking

    Guarantee
    A commitment by a third party, often a development bank, to pay if the borrower does not.
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