Despite an ongoing military coup and increasing instability, the government of Myanmar has decided to move forward with another tender for the development of utility-scale solar.
Category: Region
Selected environmental stories from media outlets in the Mekong region and beyond.
Reducing poverty can actually lower energy demand, finds research
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As people around the world escape poverty, you might expect their energy use to increase. But my research in Nepal, Vietnam, and Zambia found the opposite: lower levels of deprivation were linked to lower levels of energy demand. What is behind this counter-intuitive finding?
World Environment Day: Vietnam preserving Mekong Delta’s ecosystem
The theme of World Environment Day this year being “Ecosystem Restoration” expresses the importance of preserving and developing natural ecosystems in order to sustain a healthy environment for people’s survival.
MNRE calls for action to protect the environment on World Environment Day 2021
“We can accomplish this by adjusting our perspectives in deploying resources, resource recycling, CO2 emissions, and reducing environmental impacts in general. By adhering to Bio Economy Circular Economy Green Economy (BCG Model) we can drive the economy forward sustainably.”
Myanmar junta to sell copper worth US$51 million
Myanmar receives a share of copper cathode from the copper mines it operates as joint ventures with Chinese-run mining companies. The Irrawaddy has found that when copper cathode and other metals were sold under tender by previous governments, most of the buyers were Chinese firms.
Unabated illegal wildlife trade prompts urgent call for stronger action in the Lower Mekong
The variety and prevalence of illegal wildlife trade in several locations emphasised that the circumstances facilitating illegal trade have not only remained but, in some cases, proliferated.
Bold idea to solve pollution crisis
Let’s create a new, transboundary market to avoid pollution. This market would be comparable to the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM), which is quickly becoming a key driver of climate action, as governments fail to act boldly.
Laos establishes task force to police social media platforms
Recent years have also seen an upswing of surveillance and persecution of Lao citizens for critical comments posted online. A representative case was the September 2019 arrest of the social media influencer Houayheuang Xayabouly, then 30, also known as Muay, who was detained after she posted a video on Facebook criticizing the government’s delayed response to floods caused by a dam collapse. She was subsequently sentenced to five years imprisonment.
Rural Poverty Drives Child Labor in Laos Despite State Laws Prohibiting The Practice
Child labor remains widespread in Laos, particularly in ethnic minority communities in rural areas where minors forego schooling to perform agricultural work or stay at home taking care of younger siblings while their parents work on farms, undermining efforts to educate impoverished children, provincial teachers and education officials said Wednesday.