One message that was somewhat muted coming from COP27 is the one about “unlocking the power of hydro from the International Hydropower Association (IHA). The press release went out early and so far few have picked it up. There is a simple reason for this – with the exception of China, few countries are showing any affinity for hydro development – for some like the USA, Canada and Brazil this is because many of those countries’ rivers have already been dammed and generate a decent amount of electricity – but also because throughout the time that hydro was most active long memories tell of “disasters” to water supplies, fish spawning grounds and communities that were simply in the way. Few…