(October 8, 2010) In a move that has infuriated Chinese officials, the Nobel Committee has awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to the jailed dissident writer and famous democracy advocate, Liu Xiaobo.
Three Gorges Dam attempts third try for 175-meter water level mark
(October 3, 2010) Officials are once again trying to raise the controversial dam’s reservoir to 175 metres, marking the official “completion” of the project.
China moving heaven and Earth to bring water to Beijing
(September 29, 2010) The $62-billion South-North Water Diversion, which will bring water to the parched capital, is being compared to the Great Wall. But environmentalists are up in arms about the ‘replumbing’ of the nation’s great rivers.
In Xie Chaoping’s Own Words
(September 24, 2010) Xie Chaoping talks about his arrest and detention after the publication of his book, “The Great Relocation”, which detailed the story of the Sanmenxia Dam migrants.
The Sichuan Earthquake’s Lessons for Dam Builders
(Sepember 23, 2010) Given their relatively short lifetimes to date, modern dams remain generally untested against real-world seismic activity. A report from the International Commission On Large Dams considers the lessons learned from the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake.
China to draw natural disaster “risk map” to assist future urban planning
(September 23, 2010) Chinese authorities are drawing up a national natural disaster “risk map” in a bid to improve planning of urban construction projects in western China to avoid potential catastrophes.
“China’s green laws are useless”
(September 23, 2010) In a speech in August, Peking University professor and expert in environmental law, Wang Jin, argued that legislation in China is failing to tackle pollution. This is a summary of his remarks.
Dam safety and earthquake
(September 20 2010) IWP&DC presents a position paper of the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD), prepared by the Committee on Seismic Aspects of Dam Design.
Dam migration ends, transition ongoing
(September 19, 2010) Peng Pu, writing for Global Times, says that while many of the migrants from Three Gorges have been resettled, there is still much left to do.
Chinese loan underwrites Lake Turkana destruction
(September 17, 2010) Terri Hathaway of International Rivers says NGOs are outraged after discovering the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) is set to finance the Gibe 3 dam.
China Is Set to Lose 2% of GDP Cleaning Up Decades of Pollution
(September 17, 2010) Officials overseeing China’s fast-growing economy will have to one day clean up the problems being reaped on country’s environment. When that happens, it will negatively impact economic growth, writes Bloomberg News.
The heavy hand of the Chinese state tries to go green
(September 17, 2010) As Chinese officials look to “green” their image internationally by cleaning up polluting sectors such as manufacturing and power generation, they’re using a very traditional method: the heavy hand of the state. But that heavy hand is backfiring, creating massive blackouts, and ironically, leading to worse pollution.
For their own good
(September 17, 2010) World Bank projects move millions from their homelands…whether they like it or not
Dams threaten farmers, fishermen in India’s northeast – activists
(September 15, 2010) Hundreds of thousands of residents in northeastern India are protesting plans to build 168 dams in a remote Himalayan region bordering China, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar, reports Amarjyoti Borah for AlertNet.
China’s beleaguered Yangtze
(September 10, 2010) Overfishing, pollution and dams have all taken their toll on the health of China’s Yangtze River, writes Richard Stone in Yale Environment 360.


