Environment and natural resources
Silk Road revival needs to protect people and environment
IMF managing director Christine Lagarde’s cautionary words (April 13) on the debt burden likely to be borne by the 70 countries destined to be part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative are to be welcomed. Beijing has proposed major “Silk Road” infrastructure developments linking China ...
Janet Barber, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Mekong Delta ready for fight against climate change
As hot weather peaks this month in southern Việt Nam, authorities in the Cửu Long (Mekong Delta) region are stepping up efforts to cope with forest fires and salinisation as a response to climate change. Keep reading ...
VNS Reporter
Empty Nets Syndrome: How young fishing families on Cambodia's Mekong are struggling to survive
Two weeks ago, shortly after it turned 2am, Sami’s boat rolled over on the waves of the Mekong river and tipped all of her possessions into the water—including Lydie, her newborn daughter. ‘Just like that, she was gone,’ the 16-year-old remembers. Keep reading ...
Corinne Redfern
When the Mekong is no longer 'the mighty'
Hydropower projects are threatening Vietnam’s Mekong delta, but farmers who make their livelihoods there know little about it. Keep reading ...
Khai Don
Solar Surge Threatens Hydro Future on Mekong
Thousands of megawatts of wind and solar energy contracts in the Mekong region of Southeast Asia have been signed, seriously challenging the financial viability of major hydropower projects on the river, an energy expert told a water conference last week. Keep reading ...
David Boyle
In the Mekong, questions arise over impact of favoring hydropower
On a bucolic stretch of the Mekong, near Cambodia’s northern border, people can tell you all about hydropower. The dam is why fish catches have been dropping, steadily, for the past few years. The dam is why so many young men have taken up logging ...
Abigail Seiff
Erosion attacks yet another part of Vietnam’s Mekong delta
Can Tho is aware of the situation and has been working on a project to prevent erosion but the city is still one step behind the nature’s rage. Keep reading ...
Cuu Long
Mekong River leaders grow hushed on hydropower fears at summit
The prime ministers of the four countries in the downstream Mekong River basin agreed this week to boost collaboration for sustainable development, but turned noticeably quiet about the environmental impact from hydropower dam projects that have increased thanks to Chinese help. Keep reading ...
YUKAKO ONO
Mekong River Commission Warned on Development Impacts to the River
The four member countries of the Mekong River Commission today confronted predictions of social and environmental disaster if damming and other development projects in the region are allowed to proceed as planned. The warnings, contained in a 3,600-page report prepared by the MRC Council, point ...
Richard Finney
Mekong Leaders Mostly Mum on Risks Tied to Intense Damming
Presented with “frightening” possibilities due to intense damming, the leaders of the Mekong River Commission member countries gave little sign Thursday they had heeded calls to fundamentally rethink water policy for the shared waterway, with the exception of Vietnam. Keep reading ...
David Boyle/Sun Narin