We encourage all the six member countries to intensify their efforts and step up the coordination and collaboration at drainage basin level to address water-related issues of common concern, such as to improve conditions for local water supply, protect the ecosystem of the Lancang-Mekong River, address the adverse impacts of floods and droughts, and other extreme weather events caused by climate change.
Category: Region
Selected environmental stories from media outlets in the Mekong region and beyond.
Thai coal major Banpu aims for 6-fold solar growth with Aussie deal
Banpu, Thailand’s largest coal company, has moved to acquire two solar farms in Australia as it seeks to boost capacity in this field of renewable energy roughly sixfold by 2025.
The move comes as coal, which accounts for 80% of Banpu’s revenue, faces a global backlash from industry and investors seeking to cut carbon dioxide emissions.
Time for a wind-power push: firm
Even if the 2030 target of 17,677MW total installed electrical generation capacity set in 2019 for the country were to be revised down by 30 per cent following the pandemic, the wind power share would only represent a mere 0.64 per cent of Cambodia’s total capacity installed in 2030.
China Is turning Its water-scarcity crisis into a weapon
The PRC is flexing its hegemony in its region, putting other countries at a disadvantage, and making them beholden to PRC consideration for a vital resource. Some say that Beijing is weaponizing water. This is a real danger. On closer inspection, though, Beijing’s actions reflect the government’s recognition that extreme measures are needed. Water scarcity for human consumption, power, and irrigation is a significant source of potential instability. China’s water problem is serious.
Villagers displaced by Laos’ Nam Ngum 4 Dam say compensation is not enough
“We lost all of our homes and farmland for only 84 million kip [1 million kip = US$100] per hectare [2.5 acres],” a landowner in the province’s Phoukout district said. “We inherited the rice field from our ancestors.”
A buffer zone for Thailand, last great hope for wildlife in Southeast Asia
If the Indochinese tiger is to be saved from extinction and, through some miracle, allowed to disperse back throughout the rest of its range, Thailand is its only hope.
NGO launches ‘4Rs’ project to reduce use of plastics
About 10 million plastic bags are used daily in Phnom Penh while the average Cambodian living in cities uses more than 2,000 plastic bags a year.
Rains renew Mekong Delta erosion threat
“Erosion along river banks and coast in the province has become complicated in scale and impact, and can occur any time,” said Huynh Ngoc Nha, director of the Soc Trang Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. After each time, they would mobilise people to repair erosion sites, but things are only worsening, according to local authorities.