Changing Times Online

(July 1, 2009) The Prime Minister, Hon. Morgan Tsvangirai has endorsed the move taken by MDC ministers in boycotting yesterday’s cabinet meeting as he understands their frustrations and concerns over the delays in the full implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA).

June 4 incident, Dai Qing and the Three Gorges dam project

(June 30, 2009) This article by Chinese engineer Dr. Wang Weiluo marks this year’s 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen “Incident” by linking the events of that fateful day to the Three Gorges dam project. Dr. Wang provides insights, never heard before, into the behind-the-scenes political machinations and the power brokering over Three Gorges dam in the aftermath of Tiananmen.

Dambisa Moyo: fact vs. fabrication

(June 25, 2009) Dambisa Moyo’s solutions to ineffectual foreign aid have been sneered at, misrepresented, distorted, and attacked outright. Probe International takes it as a sign that Dead Aid has hit the central nervous system of the foreign aid industry.  Consequently it can be difficult to separate what Moyo really said from what has been put forth as her words by others in an attempt to vilify her position. Here, Probe International attempts to set the record straight with a side-by-side comparison of what Moyo actually said versus what her critics claim she said.

Dams across the Mekong could trigger a “water war”

(June 25, 2009) For now, the lower stretches of the Mekong River remain a symbol of peace and tranquillity in a region that was once bloodied by war. But for how long? That question is gaining attention following fears expressed by environmentalists that plans to build 11 large hydropower dams on the mainstream of Southeast Asia’s largest waterway could trigger a “water war.”

Province supplying Beijing water drying up: state

(March 24, 2009) A province in north China that supplies Beijing with much needed water is itself facing serious shortages of the resource, state media reported ahead of World Water Day on Sunday. Probe International, a leading development policy group, has warned that the city of Beijing faces economic collapse and will need to resettle part of its population in coming decades, as it could run out of water in five to 10 years.

Peak water? The limits of a resource

(May 29, 2009) Wise management and sustainable development of the world’s water resources is a task that has been postponed too long.  Much of the world is in crisis and parts of the United States are rapidly approaching that point. Water-poor regions can no longer expect to put off addressing the problem by pumping ever greater amounts of relict groundwater from shrinking aquifers. Geoscientists should play a leading role in designing innovative solutions such as aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) where seasonally-surplus water supplies are banked in porous underground formations for later use.