(February 27, 2007) Severe drought has had a debilitating effect on the Yangtze River, China’s longest waterway, over the last two weeks, leaving 1.5 million people in Chongqing Municipality with water shortages, local water authorities said on Monday.
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China sets water-saving goal to tackle looming water crisis
(February 27, 2007) Earlier this month, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Ministry of Water Resources, and Ministry of Construction jointly released a water-saving plan to cut the nation’s water use per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by 20 percent within five years.
‘Officials should be held responsible for pollution’
(February 27, 2007) A senior environmental official has called on the legislature to amend its 17-year-old environmental law in order to make government officials accountable for pollution. "The government’s refusal or failure to fulfil its environmental responsibilities has seriously set back China’s environmental protection efforts," said Pan Yue, deputy director of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).
Flood, drought fears in a haywire climate
(February 23, 2007) China is on alert this year for the extremes of natural disasters. Water Resources Vice Minister E Jingping has warned local governments of the increasing possibility of floods in major rivers, and droughts elsewhere.
Thai energy company moves ahead on Burma dam projects
(February 22, 2007) Thailand’s giant electricity investor is negotiating with various business alliances to fund and construct multiple hydro-electric dam projects in Burma. Meanwhile, environmentalists are preparing to stage protests against such investments in Bangkok and more than 10 cities worldwide next week.
Probe International’s Compliance Review of Nordic Srepok EIA
(February 22, 2007) An assessment of the Swedish-funded Environmental Impact Assessment on the Cambodian part of Srepok River due to Hydropower Development in Vietnam against Swedish Guidelines for Dams.
Wolfowitz takes actions to gear up World Bank for Iraq
(February 16, 2007) The Government Accountability Project (GAP) has learned from inside sources that World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is currently negotiating a contract with a new resident Iraq Country Director. This step strongly suggests that Wolfowitz intends to expand Bank-funded projects there dramatically in the near future, despite the deteriorating security situation and recent disclosures of massive corruption in "reconstruction" efforts.
For citizens’ groups, the struggle for attention is not so lonely in China
(February 13, 2007) Lushan, China: For as long as he can remember, Du Jianhua’s dream has been to find a way to contribute to his society. Starting small, the glass cutter began by cleaning up litter around this town. Later, he began tracking the way garbage was dumped into the Nansha River, fouling the waterway he’d played in as a boy.
Keep off the graft
(February 12, 2007) British Prime Minister Tony Blair released a much anticipated Commission for Africa report which called on the developed world to help Africa curb corruption by cleaning up its own act (The Guardian). The report signalled a new and hopeful direction for the Blair administration’s advance on the scourge of global graft. Blair talked about changing U.K. banking laws to speed up the return of public funds pocketed by corrupt African leaders. His government also issued new anti-corruption rules aimed at cracking down on kickbacks paid by U.K. exporters to win contracts overseas; href=”http://www.ft.com”Financial Times”
China fails to meet environmental goals
(February 12, 2007) China’s environmental watchdog admitted Monday the country had failed to reach any of its pollution control goals for 2006 and had fallen further behind as the economy picked up speed.
China boosts energy efficiency, misses goal: source
(February 12, 2007) China’s campaign to cut the amount of oil and power its galloping economy needs to keep growing notched up a modest success last year, with "energy intensity" falling sharply in the second half.
Audit finds widespread irregularities
(February 12, 2007) Government auditors have discovered 280 billion yuan (US$36 billion) in accounting "irregularities" in companies and government departments across the country. The problems were found after checking the books of more than 137,000 organizations last year, the National Audit Office said on its Website yesterday, quoting a speech by chief Li Jinhua.
Indian scandal has Canadian roots
(February 12, 2007) Indian police have been tasked with getting to the bottom of a “promise” by Quebec-based engineering conglomerate, SNC Lavalin, to provide Canadian aid to Kerala in exchange for it getting a multi-million dollar hydro-electric project.
Rich nations prodded on ‘illegitimate’ lending
(February 12, 2007) Industrialised countries that knowingly lent billions of dollars in "irresponsible" debts to corrupt and dictatorial regimes in poor nations should cancel the debts and reconsider their harmful policies, a new study says.
Largest network for monitoring sinking land OK’d
(February 10, 2007) China’s largest network for monitoring land subsidence, or land sinking, has passed appraisal tests, the China Geological Survey, a bureau of the Chinese Ministry of Land and Resources, said yesterday.
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