Environment and natural resources policy and administration
Environmental impact assessments
Don Sahong dam ‘no problem’, says premier
Just weeks after Laos announced its plans to begin constructing a third mainstream dam in the Lower Mekong River region, Prime Minister Hun Sen used a bilateral meeting with his Laotian counterpart to signal that the controversial Don Sahong dam will no longer receive opposition ...
Hydropower review taskforce stalls, waiting for instructions
A Commission member on the taskforce reviewing hydropower projects said the team has yet to hear back from the president about the first submitted report, which is believed to have advised cancelling the controversial, Chinese-backed Myitsone dam. The first report on hydropower projects along the ...
A better way to assess harm to environment
Conservation groups used to fight for environmental impact assessments or EIAs to be carried out before big government development projects. Today, that fight has been partly won with government agencies commissioning such assessments to scope out the environmental impact of big projects, such as the ...
New guidelines on impact assessments almost ready
Civil society groups are getting closer to unveiling a new set of guidelines that will change how the impact of big development projects is assessed across the Mekong region, NGOs said on November 1, following the end of a two-month public consultation period. Activists, however, ...
Three Mandalay projects delayed pending review
Three Mandalay Region development projects approved under the previous government are being reconsidered under the National League for Democracy administration. The projects are temporarily stalled while experts study potential negative impacts on the local environment and the public, officials have noted. Organising committees have been formed ...
NA members want tougher oversight on chemical use
National Assembly members have proposed that the government impose tougher measures in managing the distribution and use of dangerous chemicals so they can be brought under control. NA members expressed their wish on October 31 when debating the NA’s Standing Committee oversight of social and environmental ...
China media: opposition to hydropower dams in Myanmar is “extreme”
Opposition to Chinese-invested hydropower schemes in Myanmar is being orchestrated by “extreme” groups in the country and has been extremely damaging to joint investment projects, an influential Chinese newspaper wrote on September 19. The suspension in 2011 of the US$3.6 billion Myitsone mega dam project by former ...
Rough waters of Lower Sesan II dam
According to the Vietnam River Network, Lower Sesan II dam in Cambodia will impact both environmental and social aspects. Impacts will be felt not only around the project site but also from the upstream Sesan River to downstream at the Sekong River, Tonle Sap, Vietnam ...
Vietnam warns of dire impact from planned Mekong dams
Vietnam has predicted “very high adverse effects” on the Mekong River environment and economy if 11 proposed dams are built on its lower mainstream. Mekong River Commission said it considers the report an internal document and is not yet releasing it. Vietnam has not released ...
Govt defends Junta order to push development projects
The Thai Junta’s latest order looks set to speed up 62 development projects in Thailand as it allows key preparations for implementation pending a proper environmental impact assessment (EIA). Various government figures on 10 March chorused that the order, issued by the National Council for Peace and ...
