This book examines how the on-paper hydropower boom impacts the safe and fair access to water and energy in emerging economies. The global hydropower boom is largely made up of small hydropower plants located in emerging economies, but a lack of funding, over-ambitious planning, and corruption have halted the production of these projects.

Describing this state as the ‘on-paper’ hydropower boom, this book shifts attention to the hydrosocial problems arising from hydropower projects that remain on paper. It examines how these proposed but unbuilt projects can lead to disruptions in the control and governance of water resources and increase the international dependence of emerging countries due to deep problems in their sustainable development planning and how all this can affect both ecosystems and the communities that depend on them.

In doing so, it critically examines the dominant discourses on energy security and sustainable development, emphasises the extent to which the effects of global imperialism are at play, and examines the effects of international power relations in the hydrosocial context and their implications for perpetuating international relations of dependency. Further, this book provides a unique perspective on the global hydropower boom by highlighting that although the global hydropower boom largely remains on paper, it can still have a significant impact on human–water systems.

Contributing to the debate on hydrosocial relationships, each chapter offers an insightful examination of the social, cultural, and political interactions that humans have with water and uses these insights to provide a nuanced understanding of the challenges and issues associated with on-paper plans. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of water politics, water governance, political ecology, corruption and environmental economics, as well as sustainable development policymakers.

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