Risk and Value in Benefit-sharing with Displaced People: Looking Back 40 Years, Anticipating the Future

Abstract

The right to compensation and rehabilitation for those displaced by projects is a generally recognised principle of multilateral development institutions and, increasingly, of national governments. There is no such consensus of the concept of benefit-sharing—neither its definition nor realisation. This paper advances this discussion: reviewing past performance of benefit-sharing and anticipating its future rationale, timing and delivery. Drawing upon country laws and project reviews for hydropower, it also briefly examines prospects for another revenue generating sector: mining and non-revenue generating urban projects. It addresses the question: should benefit-sharing be limited to monetary benefits derived only from projects generating revenue during the project operations phase or should a broader concept of benefit-sharing prevail? The authors compare both financial and resettlement logics of each form. In anticipating an uncertain future, they conclude that centralising partnerships and negotiated consent with the resource losers can lead to workable, durable, ethical and effective benefit-sharing. Show more