Weibo Watch: Issue 10

Posted on January 23, 2012 by

(January 23, 2012) In this instalment of Weibo Watch: grassroots social activism takes off. Socially innovative schemes that encourage citizens to, for example, carry supplies to needy areas when they pass through, are blooming thanks to microblogs. Meanwhile, more and more netizens in different cities are taking action to monitor air quality levels for themselves, following the shocking accusation that Beijing’s Environmental Protection Bureau had stopped collecting data from two of its monitoring sites years ago because the data revealed damning pollution levels.

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Posted in Voices from China | Tagged , | 1 Comment

China’s State Council issues death sentence for legendary Yangtze fish

Posted on January 6, 2012 by

(January 6, 2012) The Xiaonanhai hydro project, slated for the Yangtze River, poses a threat to China’s most precious wild fish and the supremacy of the law, say Chinese environmentalists and scientists.

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Posted in China Energy Industry, China's Dams, Chinese Environmentalists, Dams and Fish, Three Gorges Probe | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Geology expert Yang Yong on the challenges facing China’s most controversial dam projects

Posted on January 5, 2012 by

(January 5, 2012) Dauntless geologist and explorer Yang Yong sits down with Three Gorges Probe to discuss the appeal and risks of dam construction underway in a remote, quake-prone region of Tibet, the suspension of Myanmar’s multibillion-dollar Myitsone dam, and the ongoing challenges facing China’s massive South-North Water Diversion Project. 

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Posted in By Probe International, China's Dams, Dams and Earthquakes, Dams and Landslides, Mekong Utility Watch, South-North Water Diversion Project, Three Gorges Probe | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

China, EU carbon markets bailed out at Durban

Posted on December 13, 2011 by

(December 13, 2011) The Durban climate conference set out to save the planet, but in the end may only save China’s green energy industry and the EU’s carbon markets, both of which are in danger of freefall. The $100-billion a year Green Climate Fund, agreed to by the conference, will finance the global spread of Chinese technologies. And the EU’s unilateral decision to extend Kyoto will help prop up its faltering carbon markets. But beyond December 2012, when the current Kyoto Protocol ends, the EU will be on its own as Canada, Japan, and Russia have declared their intention to withdraw.

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Posted in Carbon Credit Watch | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The best way to promote human rights in Asia

Posted on December 8, 2011 by

(December 8, 2011) The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada held an online conversation on the question: is there a “best way” for Canada to promote human rights in Asia? Patricia Adams of Probe International says that there is: by “getting its own house in order and ensuring that Canada does not aid and abet abuses abroad.”

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Posted in By Probe International, Canadian International Development Agency, EDC, Export Credit, Foreign Aid, Rule of Law, Three Gorges Probe | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

EDC releases internal documents to Probe International under Access to Information, but reveals little: UPDATE

Posted on December 7, 2011 by

(December 7, 2011) Probe International filed a complaint with the Information Commissioner of Canada following Export Development Canada’s response to our Access to Information request for details of its financing for a Canadian-owned electric utility in Chile. The Information Commissioner’s office investigated the matter and found that, due to the many exemptions in the Access to Information Act, EDC is able to withhold documents it generates and receives in the course of its business.

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Posted in By Probe International, Canada Pension Plan, Chilean Patagonia, EDC, Export Credit, News, Secrecy | Tagged , , | 3 Comments