Electricity production
Hydropower dams
China bets on mega projects in Tibet
China’s well-tested mantra that has powered its economic rise — build quality infrastructure and the rest will follow — is in full play in Tibet. The Qinghai-Tibet railway, the 1,956-km track passing over bridges and through tunnels, has already made history. []Several major rivers — the ...
Atul Aneja
A Bright Future in Cambodia’s Energy Sector?
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 ...
Sabrina Gyorvary
Echoes of an eco crisis in Bangladesh and Myanmar
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 ...
Herald Malaysia Reporter
Citizen guards protect fish stocks on a fragile river
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 ...
Oxfam
Irrawaddy dolphin numbers rise
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 ...
Pech Sotheary
The Mekong, Dammed to Die
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 ...
Pascal Laureyn
Water and power: Mega-dams, mega-damage?
‘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 ...
SCIDEV
Dams threaten Mekong: experts
One of the world’s greatest rivers is under threat from unregulated activities in riparian countries, including dam construction, which disrupt the river’s flow and break down its food chains, experts cautioned. Keep reading ...
Pak Beng dam meets stiffer new resistance
An environmental group in Chiang Rai has renewed its campaign against the controversial Pak Beng dam that is due to be built on the transnational Mekong River by lodging a complaint with the Supreme Administrative Court against Thai authorities for failing to provide local communities ...
China's plan to buy influence and undermine democracy
[] To enhance its economic and political clout, China has made substantial inroads across Southeast Asia on the back of multi-billion-dollar infrastructure and investment deals like the one in Cambodia. This is how China will engage with the world for the foreseeable future. At the ...
Philip Heijmans