Pollution and waste

China, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are dumping more plastic into oceans than the rest of the world combined. Are Southeast Asian nations doing enough to tackle the ever-growing plastic pollution problem? []The website Mekong Eye says that Southeast Asia’s Mekong region is “the world’s single ...

At the start of the year the pollution in Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, reached six times the World Health Organization’s guideline levels for air quality. Yet the levels, which appear higher than those of South Korea’s capital Seoul—where most people monitor the air pollution levels daily—is ...

People are more likely to be hospitalized for respiratory disorders during the annual haze season in Southeast Asia, when densely polluted air hovers over the region, than at other times of year, a Malaysian study suggests. Since 2005, Southeast Asia has experienced an annual haze due ...

Despites efforts by authorities, pollution at industrial parks and clusters in the Mekong province of Cà Mau has risen to alarming levels, affecting the lives of local residents. Đốc River Town, for instance, a town in Trần Văn Thời District with a population of 40,000, is ...

Pressure is mounting on hotel chains to join campaigns that will reduce the use of plastic in the hospitality and tourism industry. The Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office’s executive director, Jens Thraenhart, confirmed in his weekly despatch to travel partners that the blight of plastic pollution would ...

In recent years, increased salinity intrusion in the Mekong Delta, due to changing climate and fluctuations in river water levels especially during the dry season in coastal regions, has affected agriculture especially rice farming livelihoods. Salinity intrusion has also severely affected domestic water supplies. Saltwater ...

Authorities and people living in the coastal areas of the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta have taken several measures to prevent saltwater intrusion, including building of dams. Keep reading ...

In the last 20 years, rapid economic growth in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) has reduced poverty and brought prosperity to many of its 420 million people.  Keep reading ...

When Seah Kian Hoe was just 10 years old, he would jump on the back of his parent’s small truck during school holidays and help them collect scrap, going door-to-door around neighborhoods in Malaysia’s southern state of Johor.Keep reading ...

The environment in Mekong Delta is severely being affected by hasher natural disasters, water pollution and natural resources depletion, said a scholar.Keep reading ...