Environment and natural resources
Civil society groups to boycott Prior Consultation on new Mekong dam
Save the Mekong, a coalition of non-governmental organizations, community-based groups and concerned citizens within the Mekong region, issued a statement on Friday announcing their intention to boycott the Mekong River Commission’s (MRC’s) Prior Consultation for the proposed Pak Lay dam. Pak Lay is the fourth ...
Dams and sand mining threaten integrity of lower Mekong
As investment in hydropower and construction projects ramp up, ecosystems along Southeast Asia’s longest river are paying the price. At more than 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles), the Mekong is Southeast Asia’s longest river. It runs through six countries, providing food and income for more than ...
How conservation became colonialism
A feature article by Alexander Zaitchick that critically examines the importance of why indigenous people, not environmentalists, are the key to protecting the world’s most precious ecosystems. Read more ...
Laos' hydropower ambitions threaten Mekong fishing villages
The tiny Southeast Asian nation of Laos champions itself as “the battery of Southeast Asia,” exporting hydroelectricity to its neighbors as it seeks to exit the ranks of least developed countries. Keep reading ...
Where is the promised money, campaigners ask at climate talks in Bangkok
Developed countries are dragging their feet on meeting their pledges of billions of dollars to help developing nations tackle climate change, leaving poor nations with mounting costs from rising temperatures, rights groups said. Rich governments have promised to mobilise $100 billion per year in climate ...
Myanmar-Thailand highway branded ‘ecological and social disaster’
Community and conservation groups in Myanmar have branded a planned highway linking a port project to Thailand an “ecological and social disaster”, saying it would uproot indigenous people from their homes and farms. Critics said an environmental and social impact assessment for the road project, ...
Illegal trafficking of baby elephants to China and Dubai for tourism must be stopped, say activists
An investigator has called on the international body that polices trade in wildlife to crack down on the illegal trafficking of young elephants across borders in south-east Asia. Secretive agents in Laos are sending dozens of animals each year across the country’s land border with China and fly others to the Middle East, earning up ...
HCM City seeks ways to curb CO2 emissions from vehicles
Air pollution in HCM City caused by vehicles has become even more serious than the level of pollution emitted by industrial zones, environmental experts say. The amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the city is estimated to be 38.5 million tonnes per year, making up ...
Trade of coastal sand is damaging wildlife of poorer nations, study finds
The secretive trade of coastal sand to wealthy countries such as China is seriously damaging the wildlife of poorer nations whose resources are being plundered, according to a new study. Sand and gravel are the most extracted groups of materials worldwide after water, with sand used in ...
Climate change will make hundreds of millions more people nutrient deficient
Rising levels of carbon dioxide could make crops less nutritious and damage the health of hundreds of millions of people, research has revealed, with those living in some of the world’s poorest regions likely to be hardest hit. Previous research has shown that many food crops become ...
