Date: 2 December

Time: 14:00-15:00

Thematic Day: World Climate Action Summit of COP 28

Organisers: International Hydropower Association (Eddie Rich, IHA)

Location: Ground Floor (GRA Pavilion)

Moderator: Malcolm Turnbull, IHA President and former Prime Minister of Australia

Keynote: HE Emomali Rahmon, President of the Republic of Tajikistan

Panellists:

• Daler Juma, Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Tajikistan
• Datuk Sharbini Suhaili, Group CEO of Sarawak Energy Berhad​
• Julie Wedege, Head of Corporate Politics and Ownership, Statkraft
• Ibu Tri Mumpuni, Board, Indonesian National Research and Innovation Agency
• Roland Roesch, Director, IRENA Innovation and Technology Centre

The Bali Statement on Powering Sustainable Growth was adopted on 2 November 2023 by 1,000 people from 50 countries - including HE President Joko Widodo of Indonesia; Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg, the Premier of Sarawak; and Malcolm Turnbull, the IHA President - at the World Hydropower Congress in Bali, Indonesia. It states that sustainable hydropower must be the backbone of national strategies to build thriving, low carbon economies bolstered by clean, renewable energy.

As the world’s largest source of renewable energy generation and storage, hydropower has underpinned industrial development in many of the world’s most advanced economies, while also strengthening water management. Most of the untapped hydropower potential that remains today is in developing regions and this is where the Bali Statement urges for more changes and investments to take place.

“The industrial revolution was powered by water. Water, wind and sun together will power the sustainable growth of the future.”

This is the key message of the Bali Statement, which following an open public consultation, call for four actions from to policymakers:

• Plan for future energy needs.
• Incentivise sustainable hydropower development through financial and market-based mechanisms.
• Accelerate the development of renewables through transparent and efficient permitting and licensing processes.
• Incorporate hydropower sustainability practices into government regulation and financial sector obligations.

The Bali Statement on Powering Sustainable Growth follows on from the global hydropower community’s reaffirmed commitment to the sustainable development of projects through both the adoption of the San José Declaration on Sustainable Hydropower and uptake of the Hydropower Sustainability Standard.