Environment and natural resources

There is increasing worry in Southeast Asia about the impact on regional seafood production from Chinese plans to dam and widen the Mekong River under its “One Belt, One Road” scheme. Published at the recently concluded Congress of China’s Communist Party, the plan calls for a ...

China’s international rivers are becoming a focal point for contests over control of natural resources—and potentially international conflict.China, in its powerful position as headwater nation, continues to actively promote hydropower development domestically and internationally. When downstream nations rely on un-dammed rivers for fisheries and irrigation, ...

Rather than ecologically harmful dams, Cambodia should explore solar power to fill its energy gap.[] One such project is the proposed Sambor Dam, to be located on the Mekong River’s mainstream at Sambor town, Kratie province, Cambodia. This would be one of eleven large hydropower dams ...

When Pope Francis visits Myanmar and Bangladesh he will have a chance to see firsthand the huge environmental challenges that threaten the wellbeing of tens of millions of people. Here we look at how frequent natural disasters and environmental abuses have made both Bangladesh and ...

In the rainy season, shrubs and small trees are submerged in the Sesan River. The Sesan runs from east to west from Vietnam’s central highlands across the northern Ratanakiri region of Cambodia where it flows into the great Mekong River. [] But this community in Cambodia’s northern ...

Nine critically endangered Mekong Irrawaddy dolphins, were born this year, but two of them died, the World Wildlife Fund has said. In a statement issued on Friday, the WWF said the population continues to be threatened by illegal fishing and hydropower dams.Keep reading ...

Environmental officials and experts from China and five other countries discussed strategic goals to promote regional environmental cooperation along the Lancang-Mekong River in a meeting on Wednesday in Beijing. The river, an international body of water, crosses all six countries－China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and ...

In Laos, the lush forests are alive with the whines of drills that pierce the air. On the Mekong, a giant concrete wall rises slowly above the trees. The Don Sahong dam is a strong symbol, not only for a power-hungry Asia but also for ...

‘Water grabbing’ refers to a situation in which public or private entities are able to take control of, or reallocate, precious water resources for profit or for power — and at the expense of local communities and the ecosystems on which their livelihoods are based.[] Many ...

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc led a Vietnamese delegation to the 9th Mekong-Japan Summit and the 9th ASEAN-UN Summit that took place in Manila, the Philippines, on Monday. The 9th Mekong-Japan Summit drew leaders of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Việt Nam and Japan. Keep reading  ...