Environment and natural resources
Mekong Delta faces severe climate risks
Nguyễn Hữu Thiện, talks to the newspaper Thanh Niên (Young People) on the eco-system in the Mekong Delta and threats from climate change. How do you assess the importance of the Government’s Resolution 120 on Sustainable and Climate Resilient Development of the Mekong Delta in the regional development? The Government’s Resolution 120 ...
It’s not just melting glaciers that endanger the Mekong and its region
Recent reports of a rapid diminishment in the size of the glaciers that feed the great rivers of Asia, including the Mekong, have received wide coverage, not least because they are accompanied by striking visuals. What is happening at the other end of the river in the ...
Milton Osborne
Norway funded Cambodia’s project on biodiversity
Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) funded the project launched by Cambodia’s National Council for Sustainable Development (NCSD) with the technical assistance from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Biodiversity Finance Initiative is the name of the project launced on June 20. This project is expected ...
Nilobon Bantoey
Will the Mekong Delta sink by 2100?
The Mekong Delta loses 300 hectares of land each year because of river and coastline erosion, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). “The total land area lost in the last 10 years has reached over 3,000 hectares,” Tang Quoc Chinh from the ...
The EU and Laos conclude the third formal negotiation towards an agreement on combating illegal logging and promoting trade in legal timber products
The European Union (EU) and Laos held their third round of face-to-face negotiations on a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT). The talks took place in Brussels, Belgium from 17-21 June 2019. The Agreement aims to establish a system ...
China’s potash demand stirs resistance in rural Thailand
The future of a potash mine planned for north-eastern Thailand is mired in uncertainty as villagers put up fierce opposition, fuelled by concerns about their livelihoods, health and environment. Last year a group led by local women blocked access to exploratory drilling sites in the Wanon ...
Yodsapon Kerdviboon, Visarut Sankham
Mekong Region Grows More Important to China-US Relations
Amid increasingly tense China-U.S. relations, a U.S. official alluded to China but did not specifically name China regarding “risks” and “challenges” imposed by approaches to dam building and cross-border riverine practices in the Mekong region. At a workshop in Phnom Penh by the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation ...
Aun Chhengpor
MRC urged to prioritise steps to protect river basin
Development partners on Thursday asked the Mekong River Commission to prioritise policies to protect the basin in future development strategies, noting that the Mekong river basin is among the most vulnerable regions due to climate change. Representatives from European Union, Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, ...
Pech Sotheary
Thailand's famed 'Rose of the North' is wilting
This 700-year-old city nestled in a green valley of northern Thailand has long enjoyed a story-book reputation for its myriad Buddhist monasteries and charming wooden homes, the delicate manners of its citizens and a tranquillity hardly ruffled by its temple bells. More than 10 million tourists ...
Denis D. Gray
China winning new Cold War on the Mekong
When the state tabloid China Daily ran a paid advertisement in the New York Times extolling the virtues of Beijing’s proliferating dams in Laos, the piece sparked a new cold war controversy. Entitled “Employment on hydroelectric project in Laos delivers better lives”, the piece stated that ...
