"Utilised hydropower potential is about twice what it was at the beginning of the century. Without IHA's input, building more 21^st century projects would have been very difficult."

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— Richard Taylor, IHA’s first Executive Director, speaking in 2025

As the International Hydropower Association (IHA) founding executive director, Richard Taylor was there through the organisation’s formation, its fragile early years, and the long effort to create credibility for hydropower at a time when the sector was under intense scrutiny. Through his words, this story charts his own journey through those turbulent times, and the crucial moments that laid the groundwork for 30 years of advancing sustainable hydropower.

From type writers to global discussions

Richard’s professional journey into the sector began not in boardrooms or project sites, but in business media. In the 1980s, he worked as a technical editor for Water Power and Dam Construction (WP&DC), a periodical that was increasingly taking on resource mapping and data collection.

"I came in when there was a thirst for information at an international level, and that was becoming feasible to do. I arrived with a manual typewriter in front of me, and the only communications were letter writing, telex machines and fragile long-distance phone calls," he recalls.

"I was extremely lucky that I got paid to study hydropower, as well as gather and report information. This allowed me to become more aware of what the challenges in the sector were, both technical and financial."

And the sector was facing a growing storm of challenges. Technical hurdles, complex financing, and rising environmental and social scrutiny meant that many projects stalled or were delayed indefinitely. Industry conversations often centred not on opportunities or innovation, but on navigating these obstacles and justifying the long-term value of hydropower in a short-term world.

"At that time, many corporations and individuals realised the business was in decline. The conversations you had about projects were always about the barriers – that was the environment in which I entered the sector."

There was also considerable disruption through the privatisation and fragmentation of utilities. Into this context came new players, as the global energy landscape began to shift. It was in the early-1990s that private companies took up some projects, with mixed results. Another significant step was that China started producing five-year plans for energy development.

"I first visited China in 1987 and realised there might be some long-term plans to develop the huge potential within its territory and surrounding region. So, there was the belief that some new impetus would come from the east, as well as the private sector in the west."

Yet with opportunity came scrutiny. The environmental movement was growing stronger, and questions about the social and ecological impact of dams were increasingly influential. Under heightening pressure from NGOs and focussed through the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the World Bank engaged in the World Commission on Dams (WCD). This was intended as a time-bound investigation into the merits and risks of dams, initially reviewing its own funded projects. Ultimately, the WCD expanded to cover all dams.

"One of the things that kept on coming up was a very strong and well communicated case for the problems that hydropower created, building the cause for ending investments in new projects."

During the early-1990s, Richard and a former colleague, left WP&DC and set up a new company specialising on hydropower and dams: Aqua-Media International (AMI).

“Setting up AMI was both a leap of faith for my career, and an even stronger connection with the fate of the hydropower sector.”

Nelson Mandela, globalisation and rising scrutiny

The 1990s were a time of heightened global awareness about justice, environmental protection and social rights.

"This was a very heated, poignant time in general for the rights of peoples and the environment, because we'd also had the Rio Summit in 1992. Climate change was really starting to rise up the agenda as well, culminating in the Kyoto climate conference in 1997," Richard says.

Nelson Mandela, four years after being released from prison, gave a speech at the 1994 congress of the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) in Durban. Richard was among the audience to witness one of the world’s most famous heads of state speaking about the role of dams. Mandela said: “It’s about access to power in every sense… and the rights of countries to develop and to have use of their resources in a just way, bringing benefit to its people.”

The early thinking on the WCD’s setup was just getting underway, and commissioners and resources had yet to be appointed. Many in the hydropower sector realised the need for strong representation.

It was around this time that the International Energy Agency (IEA) created IEA Hydro, but it only had a handful of countries participating. ICOLD provided a platform for dam engineers in general, but the business of hydropower was a small voice within that community.

"There was no real representation of the hydropower profession in answering some of the criticisms. I, and a few others, occasionally did interviews when the media wanted responses to accusations of dams causing problems, but our efforts were only defensive," says Richard.

But that was about to change.

Founding the International Hydropower Association

It was in Paris at UNESCO headquarters that the pieces finally came together.

After raising awareness through the activities of AMI, with conferences organised by its journal Hydropower & Dams, the concept of a professional body for hydropower gained support. Paris became the neutral location for early discussions, facilitated through the Director of the International Hydrological Programme at UNESCO, András Szöllősi-Nagy. He was an academic with close ties to Professor Emil Mosonyi, who became IHA’s first president. Both channelled discussions about the need and role an association could fulfil.

"Professor Mosonyi was one of the most outspoken voices for the call for a professional association. And so, these things all came together, and we formed IHA in November 1995," says Richard.

Forming the organisation was the first step on a long and difficult road. In the first years that followed, IHA had no professional staff and limited resources.

"Although we had a kind of part-time secretariat, hosted by AMI, there was no work agenda, and no money to carry out the mission. Nonetheless, we gathered members and gained some traction.”

Around the turn of the millennium, Richard made another personal leap of faith.

"Selling my share of AMI to my former business partner, Alison Bartle, I took a bet on myself that I could make a go of being a professional executive of IHA, and that happened in 2000 – ironically, just after the very negative final report of the WCD had landed on everyone’s desk."

With a full-time person in place, IHA could finally represent hydropower in arenas such as the World Water Forum and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), where scepticism and opposition to hydropower development were increasingly pronounced.

"Having someone represent the voice of hydropower in those environments was important," says Richard.

This period also saw IHA begin engagement with emerging global players, including China, as its activity grew, South America, with Brazil taking a leading role, and Africa, where the African Union was strengthening regional initiatives.

"I realised then we had gotten IHA off the ground. We had established some sponsoring founding members, with a small amount of seed funding to start the organisation. This came from Canada, from New Zealand, and various parts of Europe."

Stucky (now Gruner Stucky), a current IHA member, was among those original members, and one of its senior figures, Raymond Lafitte, became the second IHA president.

Engaging with the World Commission on Dams legacy

The mid-1990s to early 2000s had seen IHA navigate the challenging pathway of the WCD. The culminating report had a profound impact on global policy towards hydropower development.  

“Despite the fact that there's a lot of good things in the WCD report, it was compromised by other things that were wrong. Also, the fact that they put this out as a consensus document was galling, and I felt much more justice to the word consensus should have been done.”

At one meeting during the process, Richard highlighted discrepancies in an interim WCD report that had been communicated as a ‘taster’ for the world’s media.

"It claimed that there were some 4 million people at any one time being displaced by dams. I did a calculation based on the Three Gorges Dam which was by far the biggest project to have ever been built, and the maximum annual displacement was about 100,000 per year. So, the WCD was implying there were some 40 enormous projects, all being built simultaneously throughout the world. Obviously, this was a shocking exaggeration of the real numbers."

The launch of the WCD’s final report was a very dark moment for the prospects of hydropower development, but one that then sparked years of introspection, dialogue and new partnerships.

“As it came out, a popular take on the WCD’s findings was that no projects would be built in the future,” says Richard. “Which put an industry that was already in deep decline into a bad place with regards to public opinion, and certainly in the opinion of risk-averse banks and investors.

“That was the context in which I became very interested in how it had gone so badly wrong. By then, I'd spent several years looking at hydropower investments and had seen problems in planning, implementation and operation. But I also saw the benefits in so many existing projects and saw a product in hydroelectricity that had some significant advantages over other forms of electricity generation.

“So, I, together with a committed IHA board, believed it was a sector worth improving, and a technology with significant untapped potential.”

The United Nations established a follow-up to the WCD, the UNEP Dams and Development Project (DDP), which was based on a multi-stakeholder structure with NGOs, industry and governments negotiating together. IHA agreed to engage in the DDP, with Richard and several other board members participating. While this marked a significant milestone in advancing dialogue, it was not an easy path for the hydropower industry.

"It was a difficult and sometimes hostile environment to negotiate in, so, I learnt to be gutsier through that process, but also to listen to the negative statements and try to understand the substance.”

Building consensus on sustainability guidelines

Amid this turbulence, IHA began drafting its first reflections on sustainability, initially led by Hydro-Québec. This work culminated in a document called Hydropower and Sustainable Development, with the lead being Karen Seelos (who later became an IHA board member) and co-authored by Richard.

Recognising the lack of substantive progress through the United Nations DDP process, IHA took the initiative. This moved IHA towards producing its own sustainability criteria and guidelines, led by Hydro Tasmania.

"With the support of an engaged IHA membership, the guidelines came out, and the World Bank and others appreciated them being created. But NGOs remained sceptical saying: we like what you've done, but we will not support them because we haven't been involved in them.”

This seeded the idea to create a multi-stakeholder process to examine the guidelines, and establish tools with a broader ownership. Richard and fellow IHA board members continued bilateral discussions with NGOs and other organisations that shared IHA’s frustration at the lack of progress in the DDP.

“It was a real team effort to try and start a new forum, to move from endless discussions towards dialogue intended to produce a product. I should mention important roles by senior board members such as Refaat Abdel-Malek, Roger Gill and Jean-Michel Devernay; we all wanted to build on the connections we had made through the DDP.”  

Thus, the Hydropower Sustainability Forum was born, with a mission to build consensus on what responsible development looks like.

"This was an initiative with IHA providing a secretariat, and with financial support from industry, development banks and governments, particularly Switzerland and Norway" says Richard.

The chair of the Forum was awarded to Andre Abadie, who had played a key role in the development of the banking sector’s Equator Principles. Helen Locher was brought in from Hydro Tasmania to serve as the Forum’s secretary, playing a crucial role in drafting and integrating input from the Forum members. Membership included WWF, The Nature Conservancy, Oxfam, along with the World Bank, private financial institutions and governments (both developed and developing countries, including China). IHA had a place in the Forum too, represented by Richard and Refaat Abdel-Malek (who by then had become IHA’s fourth president).

"It was a truly international, multi-stakeholder activity, trying to agree ways of proving compliance through a detailed set of criteria. Each category of members had their own network, known as chambers, and there were equally intense debates within these too."

Richard highlights some key individuals who acted as bridges in these negotiations. In addition to the tireless efforts of the chair and secretary. David Harrison of The Nature Conservancy, a lawyer by trade, helped translate between opposing perspectives.

"He could talk in a language that was acceptable to all sides. He was really, really important."

Jian-Hua Meng at WWF, with a water-related academic background, Joerg Hartmann, with specialisation in sustainability and finance, and Rikard Liden, the World Bank’s lead on hydropower at the time, also played critical roles.

The Forum’s work went on to develop the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol, paving the way eventually for the Hydropower Sustainability Standard – an internationally recognised framework for sustainable hydropower development.

I should also mention some key IHA staff, Cameron Ironside, Doug Smith, and more recently, Joao Costa, who were deeply involved in these developments”, Richard adds.

Expanding IHA’s activities

“In addition to the multi-stakeholder work on sustainability, IHA’s internal work programme became equally busy; moving from a start-up to an active international organisation, with several teams of specialist staff” reflects Richard.

One key step on IHA’s early journey was to bring in geographically diverse voices, representing the developed and developing world. IHA’s board was expanded to increase international representation, with 18 members elected from six regions worldwide.

“This brought in a wealth of experience and an even more engaged membership. We also needed to ‘internationalise’ the staffing at the central office,” says Richard.

Pravin Karki, who had completed a master’s in Norway before returning to his home country to work on hydropower in Nepal, proved pivotal in expanding IHA’s horizons.

"I'd met him in Kathmandu in 1999. The meeting was raising awareness of the shocking energy poverty and underdevelopment in the country, despite its huge potential for hydropower," Richard recalls.

Pravin had already founded a national hydropower association in Nepal, demonstrating both initiative and vision.

"He had the courage to move to London to work as my deputy, and that helped me to be more courageous too. We built on the support and advice of members and gained audiences with ministers and heads of international organisations; occasionally, even heads of state.

“It was with this ambition that IHA launched its first Congress, which was a turning point.”

With a growing team, IHA staged its inaugural Congress in Turkey in 2007. This set the foundation for what is now the World Hydropower Congress, with its 10th instalment set to take place in Sydney in 2027, two decades on.

IHA’s president at the time, Doğan Altınbilek, was one of the most prominent voices in Turkey’s hydropower community.

"He was someone who really believed in the organisation and wanted to take it to a level where it could command international respect. He supported me in wanting IHA to create and communicate the industry’s knowledge. That was a really important thing, generating substantive work where there were important gaps."

Another development was the establishment of IHA’s regional offices, most importantly in China and South America. Key people in setting up and managing these offices (and driving the success of the congresses) were staff members Michael Fink, Tracy Lane, Greg Tracz and Katie Steel.

“Without these people, and their teams, IHA would not have prospered”, says Richard.

Clean and renewable

By the mid to late 2000s, IHA had established itself as a platform for technical knowledge, dialogue, and policy engagement. The association convened specialist groups for research and knowledge-building, with progress being shared and discussed at events like the World Hydropower Congress. It became a trusted voice for the sector, tracking progress and supporting global energy and climate goals.

IHA worked hard, particularly with governments, to ensure that hydropower was classified within the family of renewables, which resulted in the Bonn Political Declaration on Renewable Energies in 2004. This Declaration was remarkable, given that its initial drafts by the host government deliberately excluded the technology. However, it was turned around during the final governmental session to include hydropower explicitly.

The work leading up to and including the Bonn conference was an extraordinary collective effort. As well as the staff, almost all the IHA board members were involved in meetings with their respective governments. “A particularly active board member was Peter Rae, who went on to form and chair the International Renewable Energy Alliance, a forerunner for today’s Global Renewables Alliance,” recalls Richard.

Within the scope of climate-change negotiations, including the series of UNFCCC COP meetings, IHA and its alliance partners took on the challenge of convincing the participants that renewables could work together in synergy, rather than competition. Something that was incredibly important in building the case for the clean energy transition.

Another important work area related to hydropower’s carbon footprint.

“It took 10 years of research and collaboration with the scientific community to confirm hydropower’s role in avoiding greenhouse-gas emissions. Again, without IHA members funding a specific staff team and allowing field-measurement campaigns on hydro reservoirs, we would not have the information and tools we have today to confirm hydropower as a low-carbon technology.”

Looking forward

IHA’s work created the foundations upon which today’s worldwide hydropower community has been built. Many of the decisions in those early years were not easy to achieve and implement, and is testament to the skills of past presidents that such a large board, representing a truly international membership, could be kept focussed and proactive.

"Utilised hydropower potential is about twice what it was at the beginning of the century. Without IHA's input, building more 21st century projects would have been very difficult," Richard reflects.

The next 30 years will bring even greater challenges. The delivery of the global clean energy transition requires a huge investment in technologies, adaptations, and increased storage – and history tells us this will only be possible with a strong, credible and collaborative voice.

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Post note from Richard Taylor: I want to thank all the past presidents for their contributions, and should mention my final one, Ken Adams, who calmly chaired meetings with constructive outcomes through the last years of my role as executive director.

While much of this article focuses on my role, I would like to thank all the staff and board members that have served IHA over the past three decades. I guess this amounts to about 200 people. Obviously, not all could be mentioned here, but I had support and learnt a lot from so many of you. I know that each made their own contribution to IHA’s success. 

For comments or correspondence, Richard Taylor can be contacted at rmt.hydro@gmail.com.