Environment and natural resources

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has asked HCMC to deal firmly with environmental pollution caused by two major waste treatment facilities. The ministry’s order was prompted by numerous residents complaining about the environmental pollution caused by the Tam Sinh Nghia Investment Development Joint Stock ...

Cambodia’s Mekong River from Stung Treng to Kratie and Prey Veng is believed to be the healthiest habitat of the endangered giant freshwater stingray. The notice was shared recently with AKP by Dr Zeb Hogan, an American biologist and a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) fellow who ...

Thailand’s economic slump during the coronavirus pandemic led to a drop in electricity demand, with Thai officials estimating power reserves currently at 50% over total capacity.  However, despite the Thai surplus, hydroelectric dams are still being developed next door in Laos, Thailand’s top provider of electricity. Critics say the dam projects are not driven ...

As a struggling least developed country, Laos stands alone when it comes to ignoring common sense and pushing ahead with infrastructure development that it can ill-afford and is unlikely to deliver its much hoped-for rags to riches outcome. Energy and Mines Minister Sinavav Souphanouvong made that ...

China has been ramping up its investments with the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation mechanism, which – according to American officials – is an attempt to compete with the Mekong River Commission (MRC). A competition over who dominates scientific and technical knowledge of the river indicates an escalation in the complexity of challenges ...

The government has successfully submitted Cambodia’s updated National Determined Contribution (NDC) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and earned praise as more than half of the world’s countries failed to do so by year’s end. The Kingdom’s 158-page NDC was submitted before the ...

Last week, it was reported that Chinese authorities notified the Mekong River Commission (MRC) that Jinghong Dam in Yunnan province will reduce its rate of water discharge by half from the beginning of the month until late January. For communities living along the Mekong, unusual ...

Vietnam should set up legal framework for recycling plastic waste, reduce plastic use and find new materials to replace non-recyclable plastics, according to experts. “The best solution would be recycling as much plastic waste as you can,” George Huber, professor of chemical and biological engineering, University ...

Sand mining is conducted mainly at open pits, beaches, inland dunes or from the dredging of ocean and river beds. Sand is mined primarily to produce concrete for use in construction but this little-noticed and largely unregulated activity has serious costs  because it damages rivers and ...

China’s decision to hold back the Mekong River’s water flow at a hydropower dam for close to a month will disrupt fisheries and local livelihoods along the waterway that is a lifeline for 60 million people, watchers and activists have warned. The Chinese water resources ministry ...