Hydropower dams

Evidence of the climate crisis is everywhere. The Mekong River has recorded historically low dry-season flows for the third year in a row, alongside an increase in the frequency of extreme flood events. Its delta is continuing to sink and shrink, while its riverbanks erode, ...

Two reports released last month by The Mekong River Commission (MRC), an inter-governmental organisation that works with the governments of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam to jointly manage the river’s resources, serve as a crucial health check on the state of Southeast Asia’s longest river ...

“It’s rare to see the birds these days, they’re gone. They lived off the fish, but most of the fish are gone too,” says Vuth Khat as he tours what used to be his village in the northeastern Cambodian province of Stung Treng and talks ...

Ten NGOs in Cambodia, working on water governance issue in Cambodia, have lauded the government’s commitment not to have any more hydropower dams on the Mekong mainstream which was recently made during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow, Scotland, the United ...

Climate change, unsustainable and illegal fishing and the proliferation of hydropower dams on rivers that feed Tonle Sap threaten the livelihoods of over one million Cambodians. Sarun Nong, a fisher on Koh Krabey, a small island in Cambodia’s Tonle Sap lake, takes another look at the fishing net ...

Major floods in several parts of South and Southeast Asia this year are a wake-up call for countries such as India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand among others. Experts said that such floods could become a regular feature and that countries in the region must get together ...

As the Mekong Region faces more intense floods and droughts every year, data sharing and water diplomacy are emerging as new narratives for transboundary water governance. “This year, every country in the Lancang-Mekong Region is facing severe floods. But our challenge is now compounded by Covid-19. ...

As the hydroelectric dam industry tries to reposition itself as a climate change solution, more and more evidence shows that climate change actually undermines the case for hydro dams. Gone are the days when hydropower was considered the predominant engine of the world economy, leading a ...

The Mekong River stretches through 6 countries and sustains the lives of millions of people – but the river is under threat, experiencing record drought in recent years. Environmentalists believe huge hydropower dams, many built by China, are to blame. We speak with Thai activist ...

Kong Kim, a fisherman in Cambodia’s northeast, is worried about the next few years. “I am concerned that there will be no fish in the future,” the 62-year-old told VOA Khmer earlier this week. “Fish are now less and less.” Once he could fish the Mekong River ...