Environment and natural resources

Two initiatives involving industry aim to stop ocean plastic pollution at the source.[] The project aims at the root of the problem, the partners say. They say only five countries—China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam—are responsible for 8 million metric tons of ocean plastic ...

[] Last month, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) introduced a Water Resource Bill. Although the bill seems to target large industries, the bill will also charge 0.50 baht per cubic metre of water from rice farmers with more than 50 rai (8 ...

 The ASEAN-Korea Centre (Secretary General Kim Young-sun) will organize the ‘Mekong Sub-regional Capacity Building Workshop on Cultural Heritage’ from 15 to 20 October in Luang Prabang, Lao PDR. The Workshop will gather government officials in charge of training the cultural heritage specialist guides and developing ...

As part of its environment protection efforts, Myanmar, a signatory of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, is taking measures targeting the conservation of the eco-system in coastal areas and striving to improve water resources management in the country. Keep reading   ...

Construction had been expected to start next month, but that is now unlikely as Thailand’s environmental authorities have yet to give the project the green light, China’s CCTV reported on Friday, citing Thai media.Experts need to evaluate potential areas of concern, and construction will not ...

Cambodia and Vietnam currently lack a system to effectively forecast and control flooding in the Sesan and Srepok river basins, both at the national and intergovernmental level, according to a study published by the Mekong River Commission (MRC). Keep reading   ...

Banks and regulators in Southeast Asia should strengthen financial-sector rules and guidelines to promote funding for environment-friendly projects in a region threatened by deforestation and climate change, the World Wildlife Fund said. Keep reading ...

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has pledged $1 billion to the Mekong Delta to fund projects aimed at tackling climate change amid warnings that the country’s rice basket is disappearing. The funding will come from the State budget, the World Bank, and other sources, he told ...

The fastest growing ivory market in the world is now Laos, according to an investigation by Kenya-based group Save the Elephants. China is banning all ivory trade by the end of 2017, but business is booming in neighboring countries. Investigators visited a Chinese casino resort ...

Thirty million people depend for a living on the Mekong, the great Asian river that runs through Southeast Asia from its origins in the snowfields of Tibet to its end in the delta region of Vietnam, where it fertilizes one of the world’s richest agricultural ...