News
US, UN slam arrest of prominent Vietnamese environmental activist
The United States and United Nations has criticised Vietnam’s detention of a prominent climate activist, saying such actions were part of a broader trend towards curbing free speech. Hoang Thi Minh Hong, the founder of now-defunct NGO CHANGE, which aimed to tackle some of the country’s most ...
NEWS AGENCIES
Vietnam's Mekong Capital plans Southeast Asia climate fund as early as 2024
Vietnam-focused private equity firm Mekong Capital is looking to build a climate fund worth up to $200 million as early as next year, focusing on investments that will help with the regeneration of forests in the Mekong region. The Ho Chi Minh City-based firm is setting ...
Yantoultra Ngui
Vietnam climate campaigner Nguy Thi Khanh released from prison
Human rights groups have welcomed the early release from prison of Nguy Thi Khanh, a prominent Vietnamese climate campaigner. Khanh was incarcerated for allegedly not paying tax on her winnings from the 2018 Goldman Environmental Prize in the summer of 2022, a charge human rights and climate groups have condemned. She ...
Robin Hicks
SE Asia’s COVID legacy is less wildlife trade, but more hunting, study finds
The COVID-19 pandemic, which began spreading in a seafood and poultry market in Wuhan, China, shone a spotlight on zoonotic diseases and the risks that markets selling wild meat can pose to human health. Following the outbreak, some countries like China temporarily closed down wet markets, while ...
Spoorthy Raman
Strong northeast monsoon winds could bring salinity to Mekong Delta
Additionally, strong operation of the northeast monsoon winds also can bring salinity at a depth of 50-65 kilometers, affecting water intake from the sluices. According to the latest news from the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research on March 3, the largest saltwater intrusion at the ...
Vinh Tuong- Translated by Huyen Huong
The vanishing catch: How women are suffering in the Mekong Delta
Fishing is what used to keep Nguyễn Thị Nga’s family afloat during the Mekong Delta’s flood season in the southern province of An Giang. “We always filled buckets with fish, but now there are very few,” said the 44-year-old woman with a sigh. Money earned from ...
Vân Nguyễn
Vietnam gets foreign financial backing for decarbonization effort
Three financial institutions in Japan, the United States and Australia have announced that they will support Vietnam’s decarbonization effort. The institutions, backed by the governments of the countries mentioned above, would help Vietnam transition into liquefied natural gas plants and step up renewable energy utilization and ...
The Saigon Times
Climate of fear engulfs Vietnam’s mainstream media
A fear-cloaked dynamic has increasingly percolated Vietnam’s information environment, in both cyberspace and the mainstream media. A decree guiding the controversial Cybersecurity Law, which took effect in October 2022, looks to further empower Vietnamese authorities to censor online content they disfavour and bolster the state’s digital surveillance ...
Dien Luong, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute
Salinity arrives sooner than expected in Mekong Delta
Locals in Ben Tre Province are storing freshwater as saltwater intrudes into canals and rivers at levels higher than seen in previous years. Last weekend, Vo Thi Ngoc Anh, 50, a resident in Binh Dai District of Ben Tre, switched to bottled water for cooking instead ...
Hoang Nam
How the race for a Covid vaccine enriched monkey poachers and endangered macaques
Gary Tucker was attending a conference on monkeys used in medical research when he spotted some uninvited guests: agents with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. As they walked in and out of the Colorado hotel, Tucker, an executive at a monkey import company, hid in ...
Rich Schapiro, Anna Schecter, Andrew W. Lehren and Anton L. Delgado