Population Resettlement for Hydropower Development in the Lancang River Basin: An Evolving Policy Framework and Its Implications for Local People

Hydropower is a crucial part of China’s energy portfolio and will remain key to reducing the country’s future reliance on fossil fuels. Yet hydropower dams cause the displacement of individuals and communities who live near them, affecting homes, employment, and farmland. Our focus in this chapter is on population displacement on the Lancang River, the upstream segment of the Mekong in China’s Yunnan Province and the Tibet Autonomous Region. We base our analysis on several data sources: household surveys undertaken with rural villagers near four of the Lancang River dam sites; analysis of government and industry reports on energy production and river basin management; analysis of government plans and procedures to compensate displaced people; and published reports on the Miaowei Hydropower Project, the first dam on the Lancang for which resettlement was undertaken according to the new 16118 policy, which provides long-term compensation and other benefits to resettled households. This allows us to analyse how resettlement undertaken under the new policy regime differs from earlier hydropower projects. Our findings suggest that while government and industry efforts to minimise harm to displaced communities are improving, more consideration is needed on social impacts, property rights, and policy implementation by local authorities.