Environment and natural resources
Climate change
VN Gov’t wants energy-efficient buildings
Việt Nam is going through a construction boom, with apartment and office buildings mushrooming, and energy efficiency is imperative, Nguyễn Công Thịnh, head of the Ministry of Construction’s science, technology and environment department, told a seminar in HCM City on December 5. “The ministry would like ...
Carrying a stranger’s child through an uncertain time
Ly Raksmey left her home in the heart of the country’s rice bowl in January and headed to a hospital on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. The 34-year-old stayed there several nights, in a facility that was better and cleaner than any hospital she had ...
President outlines steps for green future
President U Htin Kyaw set out the government’s vision for the country’s transition to a green economy on November 29 in an opening address to the 5th Green Economy Green Growth Forum, held in Nay Pyi Taw. Six broad measures – including promoting the renewable energy sector, ...
Govt, development partners to agree on next ten years cooperation
Localisation of Sustainable Development Goals, effective development partnerships, food and nutrition security, green growth, climate change and disaster response preparedness are cross-sectoral topics of discussion between the government and development partners this year. Experts from the government and development partners’ representative agencies began discussion on ...
Don Sahong dam ‘no problem’, says premier
Just weeks after Laos announced its plans to begin constructing a third mainstream dam in the Lower Mekong River region, Prime Minister Hun Sen used a bilateral meeting with his Laotian counterpart to signal that the controversial Don Sahong dam will no longer receive opposition ...
Small-scale farming threatens rainforests in Sumatra
Rainforest cover in the Indonesian archipelago has since declined rapidly in recent years giving way to large-scale plantations of rubber and oil palm. A recent study published in Nature Communications finds that small-scale farming can be just as damaging to biodiversity as the plantations, since ...
Trump vows Paris Agreement pull out; world unites behind green economy
The 22nd United Nations climate summit began as a wonky, low-profile affair. Nearly 200 nations, finally agreeing to keep the world from burning up, began writing the rulebook by which the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement could be achieved, while seeking the trillions needed ...
The hydropower paradox: is this energy as clean as it seems?
In July, UN Secretary Ban Ki-Moon highlighted the role of hydropower in boosting the use of renewable energy globally, when he visited a nonprofit institute in China that helps emerging nations develop and build hydropower plants. Many countries consider hydroelectricity a clean source of power ...
Radical reform of ‘outdated’ environmental laws urged
Academics and legal experts on November 9 called for radical reforms of decades-old environmental laws, with public participation to ensure the rights of all citizens to live in healthy surroundings. The call was issued as the Law Reform Commission and the Good Governance for Social Development ...
Funding a priority at COP22 climate conference
A Cambodian delegation arrived in Morocco on November 7 for the start of the COP22 international climate change conference armed with reasons why the country should receive international funding to fight global warming. “We will deliver a statement at COP22, and one of the points is ...
