News

Although touted as a clean source of renewable energy, hydropower is actually increasing the damage from climate change, say experts who have studied hydropower dam projects on the Mekong River.The projects have left Mekong communities more and more vulnerable to threats from extreme weather, the ...

The Mekong River is a lifeline to many communities in Southeast Asia. But an ongoing drought and dozens of hydroelectric power plants are lowering water levels and damaging a fragile ecosystem.The Mekong River, a critical waterway for six countries in Southeast Asia, is registering critically ...

Countries in the lower Mekong basin are watching anxiously to see whether their “big brother” to the north will tackle the growing Mekong River crisis.China controls the upper section of the river, which rises on the Tibetan Plateau and runs through Laos, the North and ...

Major dam construction projects have become a favourite pastime of some autocratic governments, with China leading the way. But, far from protecting against water shortages, as supporters promise, large dams are contributing to river depletion and severely exacerbating parched conditions. Nowhere is this more apparent ...

Originating in the Tibetan highlands and running through China, Myanmar, Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia, and Vietnam, the Mekong and its tributaries provide water, food and income for 60 million people. The longest river in Southeast Asia is home to the world’s largest inland fishery. It ...

The Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) marked its third anniversary last week with the announcement that China’s trade with the five Mekong member countries – Cambodia, Lao, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam – has reached over US$260 billion for the period, highlighting the overarching role China plays in ...

Last month’s dam collapse at the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower project in Laos’ Attapeu province has so far claimed 35 lives, with 99 missing and thousands displaced.This tragedy has prompted the Lao government to set up panels to find the cause of the incident and exactly ...

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.Buoyed by a recent Thai government ...

Study claims hydropower development will also increase poverty in the region. 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.Keep reading ...

BEIJING – Officials from southwest China’s Yunnan province have defended a plan to build a dam in the region as “fully legally compliant”, after an environment group took developers of the project to court last month for violating laws.Keep reading ...