It’s always difficult for the little guy to get his voice heard. For those who have found themselves downstream of the international river where transboundary development is taking place, like the Mekong River, your chances are nil.
Category: Article
Vietnam pledges to investigate massive illegal logging violations as international pressure grows
After several weeks of silence, the Vietnamese government announced that it is working to begin an investigation into allegations of widespread illegal logging in Cambodia directed by Vietnamese companies and provincial government officials.
Climate change a threat on Mekong Delta
Leone Clare led a presentation called Vulnerable Vietnam: A Photo Story Focused on Climate Change in the Mekong Delta, 6 p.m. Thursday, June 1st at Sitka Public Library.
Will China’s new Silk Road be green?
Will the Belt and Road Initiative bring environmental devastation or a new era of Chinese global resource stewardship? Asks Lili Pike
Paying for progress: Getting the private sector to pull its weight
The ADB’s 25 developing member countries together invested $881 billion in infrastructure in 2015, which is well below the estimated $1.34 trillion annual investment needed over the five-year period from 2016-20 if climate change-related projects are included. This gap amounts to 2.4% of annual average projected GDP for the same period.
Companies Join Hands to Build Xe Bangfai Dam
Mitr Phol Corp., Ltd of Thailand and the Laosamay Road Bridge Construction Company have signed a joint investment agreement for the development and construction of a hydropower dam on the Xe Bangfai river in Khammuan and an irrigation system for both Khammuan and Savannakhet provinces.
Vietnam’s response to climate change? A shrimp and mangrove cocktail
Julia Wallace Like other shrimp farmers here in this lush, canal-lined province in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, Nguyen Van A can instantly rattle off the precise percentage of saltwater in which crustaceans grow best. And at the moment, he insists with a smile, everybody knows that Ben Tre Province has the best brackish water in the […]
Experts explore sustainable infrastructure amid major development needs
Southeast Asia to be hit hard by road construction: 95 percent of all illegal deforestation takes place within 3.4 miles of a road, meaning road construction will place massive pressure on jungles and forests in the future.
Mekong Delta Blues
BBC Radio 4’s Costing the Earth program explores how the government of Laos is determined to develop the nation by building hydroelectric dams for electricity, yet many people in the downstream countries of Cambodia and Vietnam are worried that the flow of the life-giving waters of the Mekong will be much reduced and fish life devastated. Peter Hadfield reports from the banks of the Mekong
Civil society sets advocacy targets for AIIB
A year after the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s launch, NGO leaders involved see now as a key moment to build a constructive relationship. The $100 billion bank has yet to announce many of its own substantial financing projects, choosing instead to partner with other multilateral development banks. The bank is also still staffing up and building its internal systems — exactly the time when CSOs hope their voices can be heard.