Energy
Mekong Commission failure: dam the river and damn the region
Evidence of the climate crisis is everywhere. The Mekong River has recorded historically low dry-season flows for the third year in a row, alongside an increase in the frequency of extreme flood events. Its delta is continuing to sink and shrink, while its riverbanks erode, ...
LAN MERCADO
Trouble on the Mekong
Two reports released last month by The Mekong River Commission (MRC), an inter-governmental organisation that works with the governments of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam to jointly manage the river’s resources, serve as a crucial health check on the state of Southeast Asia’s longest river ...
MARK TILLY
New dams on 3S rivers endanger survival of the Mekong
“It’s rare to see the birds these days, they’re gone. They lived off the fish, but most of the fish are gone too,” says Vuth Khat as he tours what used to be his village in the northeastern Cambodian province of Stung Treng and talks ...
Gerald Flynn, Phoung Vantha
NGO’s want all Mekong countries to follow Cambodia’s lead on dams
Ten NGOs in Cambodia, working on water governance issue in Cambodia, have lauded the government’s commitment not to have any more hydropower dams on the Mekong mainstream which was recently made during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow, Scotland, the United ...
Son Minea
Another poor wet season endangers Cambodia’s biggest lake and its people
Climate change, unsustainable and illegal fishing and the proliferation of hydropower dams on rivers that feed Tonle Sap threaten the livelihoods of over one million Cambodians. Sarun Nong, a fisher on Koh Krabey, a small island in Cambodia’s Tonle Sap lake, takes another look at the fishing net ...
By Ate Hoekstra, The Third Pole
China could be preparing for 'water war' in Asia after completing serial dams in Tibet
Major floods in several parts of South and Southeast Asia this year are a wake-up call for countries such as India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand among others. Experts said that such floods could become a regular feature and that countries in the region must get together ...
IANS
Norway to partner with Vietnam to “awaken” offshore wind power potential
Norwegian Ambassador to Vietnam Grete Løchen and Commercial Counsellor Arne-Kjetil Lian recently have handed over the ‘Vietnam Supply Chain Study Report’ to Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien. The 70-page report provides an overview of the entire supply chain for Vietnam’s offshore wind industry, recommendations on ...
Thailand agrees to buy electricity from Laos, ignoring NGOs’ concerns
Thai power authorities have agreed after a long delay to buy electricity from three hydropower projects in Laos, pushing aside objections from Thai NGOs who say the dams’ operations will harm the ecosystem along the Mekong River. The Nov. 5 decision by the Thai National Energy ...
eported by RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Dams and droughts, data and diplomacy in the Mekong
As the Mekong Region faces more intense floods and droughts every year, data sharing and water diplomacy are emerging as new narratives for transboundary water governance. “This year, every country in the Lancang-Mekong Region is facing severe floods. But our challenge is now compounded by Covid-19. ...
Rajesh Daniel
As Warming and Drought Increase, A New Case for Ending Big Dams
As the hydroelectric dam industry tries to reposition itself as a climate change solution, more and more evidence shows that climate change actually undermines the case for hydro dams. Gone are the days when hydropower was considered the predominant engine of the world economy, leading a ...
JACQUES LESLIE