During the 2016 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Marrakech (COP 22) Vietnam and Cambodia professed their commitment to do their part to reduce CO2 emissions. Noting that they are both on the front lines globally in facing impacts from a warming atmosphere, the two neighbors agreed to transition their entire electricity generating portfolios to renewables.
Tag: policy
Cambodian Communities Complain Illegal Fishing Damaging Livelihoods
In this video, community leaders at Kampong Khleang in the Tonle Sap Lake, expose to us (Scientists for the Mekong) the corruption of authorities receiving bribes and allowing illegal fishing by Vietnamese ‘trawlers’ on the Lake, plus the impacts on their own livelihoods.
Locals slam Mekong blasting plan
The government’s aim to clear the Mekong River’s rocky outcrops to ensure the smooth passage of large cargo boats has set off alarm bells for environmental activists and locals who fear the ecology in the area will be put at risk.
The Mekong River, known in China as the Lancang River, runs through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam over a total distance of 4,880km.
Deputy PM urges study on north-south express railway
Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has urged the Ministry of Transport to accelerate finalizing the pre-feasibility study on the north-south express railway project.
The pre-feasibility study should be appraised by independent, experienced foreign consultants before being submitted to the Prime Minister and the State Appraisal Council, he stressed.
Spare the Mekong
The Prayut Chan-o-cha government made an out-of-the-blue decision that paves the way for the demolition of the Mekong River’s rocky outcrops for the sake of “improved waterway navigation”.
The justification offered is both weak and unjustified. The public was neither consulted nor informed while the well-being of the ecology of the world’s tenth longest river is at risk. And the party gaining the most significant trade benefits will obviously be China.
Decisions due on coal, gas, petroleum auctions
After a year of changes in the global and domestic energy market, Thailand can expect further challenges in the years ahead.
Of these, the most crucial issues are the development of two coal-fired power plants in the South, the retirement of the Erawan and Bongkot gas blocks and the long-delayed 21st round of new concessions for 29 petroleum blocks.
Uncertain path for Vietnam’s wind power sector
Although Vietnam has great potential for renewable energy, and the government has put forward many plans advocating it, actual policies to secure investment and develop the sector have been slow to evolve. “Development [of renewables] has not grown strongly because power prices are too low to accommodate it,” says Le Tuan Phong, the Vice Director of Energy Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT): “Renewable energy investm
Gold mines ordered to suspend from Jan 1
THE National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) yesterday exercised its absolute power to tackle conflict and alleged impacts caused by gold mines by ordering them to suspend operations from January 1, 2017.
National environmental policy gets an update
Myanmar will get a new national environmental policy in early 2017, say officials from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation. The retooled version will update the 22-year-old policy currently in place.
25 Most Popular Research Papers on Lao Land and Food Issues: LaoFAB
In commemoration of LaoFAB’s 10th anniversary, the top 25 most popular research papers and reports in its repository have been made public. The list is dominated by studies of land concessions and food security.