A proposed multibillion-dollar project to be implemented on the Hong (Red), a river crucial to the eco-social development of northern Vietnam that runs through nearly ten provinces, is also meant to connect local water transportation routes with China, fueling concerns over its feasibility and environmental impacts.
Category: Region
Selected environmental stories from media outlets in the Mekong region and beyond.
Japan pledges Bt245 bn for Mekong connectivity
Japan yesterday launched the Japan-Mekong Connectivity Initiative, pledging 750 billion yen (Bt245 billion) for the development of linkages in the region for the next three years while hoping Thailand would be able to restore political stability quickly enough to become a leading partner for the scheme.
Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, who concluded his two-day visit to Thailand yesterday, announced the initiative during his policy speech at Chulalongkorn University to “set the tone” of Japanese presence in the region.
Connectivity is a key for regional integration, he said.
Amid Fish Deaths, Social Media Comes Alive in Vietnam
In Vietnam, a scandal surrounding the mass die-off of fish has created an explosive wave of debate and activism on social media, particularly Facebook. Responding to the social media outcry, many rallied in cities across Vietnam on Sunday, during a national four-day holiday. The rallies took place at an unprecedented scale, spanning three regions.
The protests responded to the mass deaths of fish, a crisis that has been ravaging Vietnam’s four central-coast provinces since early April. The environmental disaster has killed thousands of fish and caused financial and environmental damages to fishermen and people living in what was already one of the country’s most vulnerable regions. The cause is unconfirmed as yet, but many Vietnamese suspect pollution from a steel plant operated by a subsidiary of Formosa Plastics Group.
Are mega dams a solution or burden to climate change?
As the world rushes into implementing the commitments enshrined in the historic climate deal in Paris in December, the use of large dams to mitigate climate change is becoming more popular across Asia and the world. But for many environmental and social advocates, this source of water and power remains a questionable solution that may even exacerbate our already fragile river resources. Eco-Business takes a look into the debate surrounding mega dams.
Dawei residents protest against $3 billion oil refinery
A collection of civil society groups in the southern city of Dawei has begun to actively protest a Chinese-led US$3 billion proposal to build Myanmar’s largest oil refinery on their doorstep.
Local businesses, civil society organisations and villagers are circulating a petition calling for the new National League for Democracy-led government to reconsider the project – which received approval on the last full day of former president U Thein Sein’s administration.
Local residents were hardly involved in the approval process, according to the appeal, which suggests the environmental effects of the 100,000-barrels-per-day project may be catastrophic.
More than 2000 people from six villages have signed the petition, according to the Dawei Development Association.
Mekong Delta loses half of silt to upstream dams: scientists
Le Van Nam has difficulty sleeping at night thinking of the fall in yields year after year on his rice field allegedly due to less silt being washed down the Mekong River because of upstream dams.
“In the last winter-spring crop, my 5,000 square meters only produced 3.5 tons of rice while it was four tons the previous year,” the farmer from An Giang Province said.
Declining flows down the Mekong River due to the building of dams upstream have been partly blamed – as have severe droughts — for reduced yields and worsening erosion in the delta.
According to the An Giang Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, floods in the 4,900-km river used to bring silt and fish.
However, declining flows in recent years have made the land less fertile.
After a 14 year hiatus, Cambodia’s passenger trains are back
Cambodia’s passenger train services resumed regular operations between capital Phnom Penh and southwestern Sihanoukville on Saturday after a 14-year hiatus.
Massive Fish Kill in Vietnam
Vietnam’s top environment official offered an apology on Friday for his government’s “confused” handling of a mass fish kill off that has killed tons of fish across a wide swath of the country’s central coast.
Cambodia Cancels Screening of Film About Murdered Environmentalist Chut Wutty
The Cambodian government has stopped the public screening of a documentary about the life and struggle of Chut Wutty, an environmentalist who was killed in 2012 while exposing the activities of an illegal logging plantation.
Myanmar Launches First Report on Extractive Industries Revenue
News Release On Friday, March 18 several hundred people gathered in Yangon, Myanmar for the launch of the country’s first EITI report, which provides the most comprehensive data to date on Myanmar’s revenues from extractives; traditionally opaque sectors in the country. Dr. Maung Maung Thein, outgoing chair of the Multi Stakeholder Group that implements EITI […]