Environment and natural resources
Pollution and waste
OPED: Plastic waste still an issue
When it comes to policy on waste management and recycling, the Prayut Chan-o-cha administration is generally deemed to be progressive. The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry in 2018 made a landmark decision to slap a ban on the importation of plastics and electronic waste which ...
For a non-plastic waste marine environment
According to the Vietnam Institute of Seas and Islands under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE), plastic waste accounts for between 50% and 80% of marine waste. Currently, Vietnam is ranked fourth among the five countries which have the biggest volume of plastic ...
Dow-DMCR-IUCN takes mangrove conservation to the next level in the fight against global warming and marine debris
Dow Thailand in collaboration with the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recently held a signing ceremony for a cooperation agreement on the “Dow & Thailand Mangrove Alliance”. The collaboration ...
Rights groups slam Cambodia's proposed clean-up drive
For almost 20 years, Lom Rithy has walked the streets of Phnom Penh with her cart, selling cold beverages to Cambodians. Although she doesn’t earn much, it is enough for the 37-year-old to take care of her family. “On an average, I make a daily profit ...
Ate Hoekstra (Phnom Penh)
Polluted Mekong Delta river kills fish, contaminates water sources
A section of the Cai Lon River in Hau Giang Province has turned black and foul-smelling, killing fish and contaminating local water sources. For the past several days Ly Minh Lam, a resident of Long My Town in the Mekong Delta province, has been unable to ...
Cuu Long
Hanoi's biggest landfill is running out of space
Built in 1990, the Nam Son waste treatment complex in Soc Son District spans over 157 ha and is divided into two phases. The first phase included 10 trash burial slots spanning over 83 ha, while the second one included eight slots spanning over 73 ...
Ngoc Thanh, Tat Dinh
ASEAN works to respond to transboundary haze pollution
The ASEAN Secretariat has hosted an online conference to strengthen efforts, coordination and preparation for tackling transboundary haze pollution, which is predicted to peak in August and September. The event, funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)’s Measurable Action for Haze-Free Sustainable Land Management in Southeast Asia ...
One million Cambodians under threat from development of vital wetlands – report
New sprawling development near Phnom Penh could prompt environmental catastrophe, including for the capital’s water systems. The destruction of critically-important wetlands by politically-connected developers in Cambodia threatens to flood more than one million Phnom Penh residents, ruin the city’s wastewater system, force hundreds of families from ...
Christopher Knaus
Flood risk for one million in Phnom Penh as wetlands destroyed
More than one million people in Phnom Penh face the risk of increased flooding and loss of livelihoods as wetlands in the Cambodian capital are destroyed to build apartments and industries, human rights groups warned on Monday. Developments – including the ING City township – will ...
Rina Chandran
ASEAN cooperation to address transboundary haze amid pandemic
Forest fires are a major source of transboundary haze in the ASEAN region. It is particularly pronounced in the dry season during the first half of the year for the Mekong subregion and second half of the year, most notably from July to September, for the southern ASEAN region. The ASEAN region contains over half of the world’s peatland, a valuable ecosystem critical for ...
Kung Phoak