With the loss of the independent press watchdog a reality, experts say they fear the circumstances are ripe for overexploitation of natural resources.
Category: Region
Selected environmental stories from media outlets in the Mekong region and beyond.
Thailand proposes carbon neutrality by 2065-2070, bets on CCUS
Thailand proposes to achieve carbon neutrality by 2065-2070 under a new energy plan that could see renewable energy account for a 50% share in its power mix.
Feasibility study scheduled for new Triangle Special Economic Zone
Phongsaly provincial authorities have given the green light to a Chinese business group to carry out survey and a feasibility study on the development of the 250 square kilometer Triangle Special Economic Zone (SEZ), located at the shared border between Laos, China and Vietnam.
Climate change blame game turns against Asia
Southeast as a whole, from Indonesia to Thailand and Vietnam, now accounts for more than half of global energy demand. All the major economies in the region continue to rely on coal and as a result, emissions will keep rising.
Plans to transition from coal look set to leave Cambodia out in the cold
An idea conceived by the chairman of Prudential Insurance Growth Markets could hasten the end of coal-fired power stations in parts of Southeast Asia. Cambodia is unlikely to play a part as it pursues a programme of electrification across the whole country that is heavily dependent on fossil fuel.
ADB helps Vietnam improve climate resilience of infrastructure for ethnic minorities
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a 60 million USD financing package to improve the climate resilience of transport and water supply infrastructure in Vietnam’s south-central coastal provinces of Binh Dinh and Quang Nam, especially in remote upland districts with large ethnic minority communities.
Government must ban imports of plastic scrap
Earlier this year, the government backed away from its commitment to a Plastic Waste Management roadmap, which says that by 2027, 100 percent of plastic waste must be reusable.
Investments to benefit rural farmers against climate change effects
While proponents and naysayers of the climate change debate their ideas over forums and scientific table talks, those who live through its effects can do nothing but suffer from it. The people of Cambodia’s vast Mekong floodplains live through experiences that are nothing but figures and statistics for the academics.
Why farm-raised shrimp are bad for the environment
Shrimp waste ends up becoming a toxin all its own, but add to that the various chemicals and hormones aqua farmers are injecting into their shrimp, and you’ve got an even greater problem.The lengthy and complicated supply chain that brings the majority of shrimp into the West from farms in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand burns an awful lot of fuel. Furthermore, some shrimp farms in Vietnam have been injecting their shrimp with a carboxymethyl cellulose gel to make them plumper. It’s not toxic to humans, but it’s certainly not above board, either. And shrimp farms in Thailand have even been accused of human trafficking, child abuse, and slavery,
Washington gets serious about the Mekong
Outlining a comprehensive action plan for the Mekong River region at a virtual meeting with Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made it clear that Biden sees the area as America’s new strategic “pivot.”