Eco-Business
Vietnam climate campaigner Nguy Thi Khanh released from prison
Human rights groups have welcomed the early release from prison of Nguy Thi Khanh, a prominent Vietnamese climate campaigner. Khanh was incarcerated for allegedly not paying tax on her winnings from the 2018 Goldman Environmental Prize in the summer of 2022, a charge human rights and climate groups have condemned. She ...
Explainer: What is ecocide?
What is ecocide? In short, ecocide refers to the mass destruction of ecosystems. Formally, it is defined as “unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts”. ...
Kate Yeo
In Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, sand mining means lost homes and fortunes
When a riverbank subsided and gave way four years ago, Tran Van Bi’s house collapsed into a river in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. Everything his family had accumulated over 32 years was gone in an instant. “At that time, when I heard the sound of screaming, I ...
Dinh Tuyen
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
Wet-season dam operations hit Mekong ecology and communities
In early July 2021, Chinese dams began restricting the flow of the Upper Mekong. Researchers and activists say the consequences downstream are unknown and potentially severe. As China celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party on 1 July, the Jinghong dam in Yunnan Province began restricting ...
Tyler Roney, The Third Pole
Covid-induced energy plunge shrinks coal development in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia’s response to the Covid‑19 outbreak has curtailed electricity use and industrial production, pushing down coal consumption even further this year, according to the latest report from a non-governmental organisation which monitors worldwide fossil fuel infrastructure. Even before Covid-19, new coal plant construction was already slowing in the ...
Hannah Alcoseba Fernandez
Vietnam considers scrapping half of coal power plant pipeline in favour of gas and renewables
The coming decade could see Vietnam shelve nearly half of its currently planned coal power plant capacity as alternative sources of energy take up growing shares in its power mix, the government-affiliated research body tasked with drawing up the nation’s next power sector roadmap has ...
Tim Ha
Vietnam approves 7 GW of new wind projects
Vietnam has given the green light to almost a hundred new wind energy installations, indicating the nation keeps powering ahead with renewables amid fears of looming power shortages as industry and population boom. The Vietnamese government on Thursday (25 June) formally approved 7 gigawatts (GW) worth of ...
Tim Ha
Forest fires rage in northern Thailand
While the world’s attention has been focused on the Covid-19 pandemic, northern Thailand has been experiencing the worst forest fires in decades. Already raging since mid-March, the fires are projected to continue well into May. With the news of the pandemic dominating international media, the choking ...
Sonia Sambhi
Covid-19 measures leave Southeast Asia’s migrant workers exposed, lay bare their living conditions
Job loss, crowded quarters and reduced access to healthcare are among the issues foreign workers face. Advocacy groups say the pandemic can only be controlled with an inclusive approach that protects every individual’s rights to life and health. The spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus among Singapore’s migrant ...
Neo Chai Chin