Government and civil society representatives highlighted the need for strong and inclusive environmental impact assessment (EIA) policies and practices in the Mekong region at a meeting this week in Bangkok, Thailand.
Tag: dams
Dam EIAs enable “river grabbing”
Water and river grabbing refers to situations where powerful actors such as developers and governments are able to take control of, or reallocate to their own benefits – including decision-making power – the use of rivers and water resources.
Do Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) allow ‘river grabbing’?
Though hydropower is considered a form of clean energy, the construction and operation of hydropower dams can drastically destroy rivers, and alter people’s way of life forever. Therefore, assessment of the environmental impacts of specific hydropower projects is crucial to avoid what can be called ‘river grabbing’.
Shan and Karen CSOs strongly oppose Salween Dam
Villagers and CSOs from Shan State and Karen State on 10 March protested against the Mong Ton hydropower project during the first public consultation meeting held by the Australian consulting firm, the Snowy Mountain Engineering Corporation (SMEC) in Taunggyi, Shan State.
Myanmar: Shan Villagers and the Salween Dam Fight
The increasing army presence to defend the construction of a controversial Salween river dam in southeastern Myanmar’s Shan state has sparked heightened concerns among rural villagers, who are determined to fight the development that threatens their livelihoods.
Environment experts discuss dam dangers
Thirty-five experts from environmental organisations in Cambodia, Laos and Viet Nam gathered yesterday to discuss water management and the effects of hydropower dams.
Laos Dam Project a Black Eye For Mekong Cooperation
When the Lao national assembly last week approved a potentially destructive dam project just 2 kilometers from the border with Cambodia, the surprise announcement was yet another blow to the regional framework designed to protect the Mekong River.
Dam threat to Mekong River’s last few dolphins
The fate of the last surviving Irrawaddy river dolphins on the Laos-Cambodian border hangs in the balance after a Laos government official was reported as saying this week that construction of the dam would begin by the end of the year.
Laos targets green energy in new Asian economic bloc
Laos is one of the ten South-East Asian nations preparing to form a single market at the end of 2015. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations Economic Community (AEC) is intended to boost regional growth by creating a common market that will enable the free flow of goods, services and skilled labour — including scientists — between member states.
Critics Fear Effects of Laotian Dam Project
Sun Thaya has depended on his taxi boat for his income for years. On average, he said, he earns around 200,000 kips a month, or about $25, to take tourists to see river dolphins on the border between Laos and Cambodia. When there are no tourists, the Lao boatman just fishes in the area to feed his family.