Environment and natural resources
Climate change
Four adaptation opportunities Myanmar can take to build resilience to climate change
Myanmar has experienced a number of extreme weather events in recent years, many of which are likely to worsen with climate change. In 2019, the country suffered record pre-monsoon heat. The city of Yangon recorded 42 degrees Celsius in April – a new record for the city. ...
Georgina Wade
National forest service payment mechanism generates 120 million USD annually
The Payment for Forest Environmental Services (PFES) system implemented at national scale under an USAID project now generates approximately 120 million USD annually to finance the management of approximately 6 million hectares of Vietnam’s forests. The figures were released at an Earth Day event held in the Central ...
VNA
'Nothing about the Mekong is normal now’: Anger along Southeast Asia’s great river as water levels become unpredictable
From a distance, it is hard to make sense of the small patches of green emerging from the cracking mud flats of the Mekong River. They are not oases, nor sprouts of river grass along dusty channels where water normally flows; they are golf greens. Recently, ...
Jack Board
Climate Change Adaptation in Cambodia and Fiji Households
The World Risk Report 2019 included Fiji and Cambodia in its top 20 most at-risk countries due to their high exposure to climate-related hazards. The Mekong River that runs in the middle of Kratie province is susceptible to climate change effects such as temperature rise ...
Climate Adaptation Platform
Vietnam to borrow $2 bln to fortify Mekong Delta against climate change
Vietnam plans to borrow around $2 billion to develop the Mekong Delta, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said. The money, to come from the World Bank, Germany and France, would be used for the sustainable development of the Mekong Delta in the face of climate change, ...
Viet Tuan
Can the EU's climate change plan work in Southeast Asia?
After the European Union became a “strategic partner” of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc in December 2020, both blocs pledged to make climate change policy a key area of cooperation. The EU, already the largest provider of development assistance to the ASEAN region, has committed ...
David Hutt
Experts seek measures to promote Mekong Delta’s sustainable growth
Vietnamese and foreign experts and scientists gathered at a conference in Can Tho city on March 31 to seek solutions to boost sustainable development in the Mekong Delta region amid climate change. Participants agreed that the Mekong Delta is vulnerable to climate change and rising sea levels, which ...
VNA
New platform aims to reveal dam and climate impacts on the Mekong
A new monitoring platform that uses satellite imagery to track dam reservoir levels on the Mekong can shed light on the contentious issue of how the river’s precious water is stored, and the effects of climate change. The disruption to water and sediment flows along the ...
Chris Humphrey
UN suspends climate work with Myanmar government following military coup
The UN has suspended climate projects that require working with Myanmar’s military government following the 1 February coup and other international donors may follow suit, four experts have told Climate Home News. “They haven’t officially announced the suspension but there are no more activities,” said a ...
Thin Lei Win
Mekong Takes on Bluish Tinge as Water Levels Again Fall
Water levels in the Mekong River have fallen to “worrying” levels since the start of this year, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) said last week, as the region heads into a third straight year of below average rainfall. In a statement on February 12, the Mekong ...
Sebastian Strangio