Energy
Tackling Hydropower Myths on the Mekong: “Run-of-River” Does Not Mean Sustainable
A few weeks ago, the 3rd Mekong River Commission Summit took place in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The Summit is held every four years, bringing together the leaders of the Lower Mekong member countries: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam, together with representatives of China and Myanmar ...
International Rivers Reporter
China pours $1.7m into development for Mekong countries
China is offering $1.7 million to a six-country group along the Mekong River to boost regional trade and ease concerns about Beijing’s massive hydroelectric dam projects along the waterway. Keep reading ...
APORNRATH PHOONPHONGPHIPHAT
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
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 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
Are Chinese-funded dams on the Mekong River washing away Cambodian livelihoods?
Beijing’s spending on hydropower projects is welcomed by many poorer Southeast Asian countries, but it comes with a huge environmental and social cost, experts say. Keep reading ...
Mekong River dams ‘will harm food security’
Hydropower development on the Mekong River will aggravate food insecurity and poverty in the region and reverse the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a study says. Environmental and social specialists of Mekong River Commission (MRC) warned during the third MRC International Conference in Siem Reap, Cambodia, that ...
Pratch Rujivanarom
Ongoing Mekong Dam Construction Puts Communities at Serious Risk: Advocates
As hydropower projects continue to be built along the Mekong mainstream, fishing communities living near the Tonle Sap river in Cambodia say their way of life is already changing. Keep reading ...
Hul Reaksmey