The Cambodia Sustainable Landscape and Eco-tourism Project will be the World Bank’s largest tourism investment in Cambodia. It will take five years to carry out and will involve seven provinces including the Cardamom Mountains, Southeast Asia’s largest intact rainforest, the Tonle Sap Lake’s flooded forests and Phnom Kulen in Siem Reap.
Category: Region
Selected environmental stories from media outlets in the Mekong region and beyond.
Thai oil major PTT launches $16bn push into EVs and green energy
The centerpiece of the government controlled PTT’s green drive is the development of Thailand’s EV supply chain. The government plans to have 30 percent of vehicles produced domestically be zero emissions by 2030.
Wildlife traffickers creeping back as pandemic restrictions ease – U.N. report
Through interviews with wildlife traders and traffickers in difficult-to-police regions in countries along the Mekong River – like Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and China – the UNODC found evidence of wildlife products being stockpiled until prices and demand recover.
Climate change spurs typhus incidence in Laos
“the evidence from this research suggests that we will see an increase of both these diseases not only in Laos but in other countries
as well. The diseases may also spread to areas where they have not previously been found as temperatures rise.”
Water projects need scrutiny
Without an approved EIA a project cannot move ahead; so developers are accused of hiring “friendly” environmental firms and environmental experts to conduct a study and public hearing that give favourable outcomes that support the project. Such accusations surfaced recently in the case of the Yuam River Water Diversion scheme.
Simmering glacial geo politics: upcoming crises with transboundary water cooperation on Asia’s back burner
In the short-term, the amount of water is projected to rise, contributing to floods. The Upper Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Mekong are each expected to increase total runoff by up to 27 percent. These increases will not be sustained.
Water stress poses credit risks for coal, mining and power sectors: Moody’s
In Asia, said Moody’s countries with the highest exposure to water management risks also tend to be large agricultural producers, with those banking systems facing sizable loan exposures. This is the case in India, China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Bangladesh where in many cases credit to agriculture and fisheries is reflective of the sectors’ importance to employment.
Agreement Moves Myanmar’s Kyaukphyu Port and SEZ with China moves forward
An agreement to conduct preliminary field investigation work for the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Deep Sea Port Project has been signed, signaling another step forward for the project, which forms part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) plans in Myanmar.
Flooding: An all-too-familiar sight
The chance of epic floods is less than 10% but his model shows each region having different probabilities of flooding events — Central (10%-20%), Northeast (20%-40%), East (30%-40%), and South (50%-60%).
Pandemic, post-coup political turmoil delay establishment of marine protected areas in Arakan State
Efforts are underway to conserve as marine protected areas the two largest mangrove forests in Myanmar: Wun Paik and Kyeintali Island.