Belo Monte: there is nothing green or sustainable about mega-dams

There are few dams in the world that capture the imagination as much as Belo Monte, built on the “Big Bend” of the Xingu river in the Brazilian Amazon. Its construction has involved an army of 25,000 people working round the clock since 2011 to excavate over 240 million cubic meters of soil and rock, pour three million cubic meters of concrete, and divert 80 percent of the river’s flow through 24 turbines.

Costing BRL 30 billion (USD 7.7 billion), Belo Monte is important not only for the scale of its construction but also the scope of opposition to it. The project was first proposed in the 1970s, and ever since then, local indigenous communities, civil society, and even global celebrities have engaged in numerous acts of direct and indirect action against it.

While previous incarnations had been canceled, Belo Monte is now in the final stages of construction and already provides 11,233 megawatts of energy to 60 million Brazilians across the country. When complete, it will be the largest hydroelectric power plant in the Amazon and the fourth largest in the world.

Belo Monte, a “sustainable” project?

The dam is to be operated by the Norte Energia consortium (formed of a number of state electrical utilities) and is heavily funded by the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES). The project’s supporters, including the governments of the Workers’ Party that held office between 2003 and 2010, have justified its construction on environmental grounds.

They...