Environment and natural resources
Climate change
Droughts shrink hydropower, pose risk to global push to clean energy
Severe droughts are drying up rivers and reservoirs vital for the production of zero-emissions hydropower in several countries around the globe, in some cases leading governments to rely more heavily on fossil fuels. The emerging problems with hydropower production in places like the United States, China ...
Sharon Bernstein and Jake Spring, David Stanway
INSIGHT - If your coffee's going downhill, blame climate change
Coffee leader Brazil is turning to stronger and more bitter robusta beans, which are hardier in the heat than the delicate arabica, in a sign of how climate change is affecting global markets – and shaping our favourite flavours. Brazil is the world’s biggest producer of ...
Reuters
Finance firms plan to close coal plants in Asia
Some of the world’s biggest financial institutions are working on a plan to speed the closure of coal-fired power plants in Asia, the BBC has been told. The initiative was developed by UK insurer Prudential, is being driven by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and includes ...
Addressing Climate Change in the Mekong-Ganges Region
ollowing the 11th Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) meeting on July 21, the foreign ministers of the MGC’s six member countries (Cambodia, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam) agreed on the need to increase cooperation on sustainable water resource management. The ministers pledged to enhance technical cooperation ...
Lohita Solanki
Bad news for Vietnam’s Mekong Delta
The release of recent research from the Netherlands adds an additional insight into what is happening in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, the country’s all-important food producing region that contributes some fifty per cent to its agricultural GDP. In a stark conclusion the research cites 2050 as the Tipping ...
MILTON OSBORNE
How Vietnam’s Rice-First Policy Weakened the Mekong Delta Against Climate Change
Citizens and government officials resorted to drastic measures this year to prepare for the annual dry season in Vietnam’s Mekong delta. As debate rages over the causes of and solutions to the drought, the government is building large reservoirs to deal with the increasingly dry delta. ...
Michael Tatarski
How Asean’s Covid-19 recovery measures are missing opportunities for a green future
More than a year after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a public health emergency, the – a region with a combined GDP of US$9.34 trillion and a population of more than 650 million – has not recovered from the global economic tumult ...
Melinda Martinus and Sharon Seah
Mekong Delta farmers restructuring crop cultivation to better respond to climate change
Farmers in the Mekong Delta provinces changed time and crops for cultivation to adapt to the negative impacts of climate changes. Some moved farms back into hinterlands to easily take fresh water from upstreams. Others shifted to grow fruits that generate higher economic efficiency. With freshwater available ...
Authors: Huu Duc - Minh Dam. Translated by Hien Anh.
Foreign Secretary visits Vietnam to strengthen bilateral ties and cooperation on trade and global challenges
In his second visit within 9 months, the Foreign Secretary has met counterpart Vietnamese Foreign Minister, Minister Bui Thanh Son, to discuss the implementation of the UK-Vietnam Strategic Partnership Agreement, in addition to subjects such as the global health security, climate change and Myanmar. The visit ...
FCDO Communication Team
Lower Mekong Basin project underway to ensure water security
A $15 million project to enhance cross-border groundwater management and strengthen water security in the Lower Mekong Basin is being developed by Cambodia and Vietnam, with a focus on improved governance and sustainable utilisation of the Cambodia-Mekong river delta transboundary aquifer. “The project will benefit both ...
Lay Samean