(June 22, 2006) The Asian Development Bank reports that the ADB-financed company responsible for linking hydro dams in Yunnan to the provincial power grid has been operating at a loss in recent years and is not financially viable.
Beijing’s planned water supply faces pollution threat
(June 22, 2006) Water that will be brought to the capital along the central route of the south-north water diversion project is under threat from pollution. The source of the problem is a river more than 1,000 kilometres away, in Shaanxi province.
The last river
(June 22, 2006) China plans to exploit the power of Southeast Asia’s last great wild river in a giant staircase of dams stretching from Tibet down through Yunnan province. Swedish journalist Ola Wong reports on a region of unique natural and cultural wealth under threat.
Opening statement for hearing on UN Convention Against Corruption
(June 21, 2006) The US administration has sent the UN Convention Against Corruption to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for Senate advice and consent. A hearing chaired by Dick Lugar is now underway and the treaty is expected to be discharged.
Free the Third World of export credit agencies
(June 21, 2006) The evidence of boondoggles made possible by Export Credit Agency (ECA) support – the Three Gorges dam, the Norwegian shipping deal to Ecuador, the Manantali dam in the Senegal River basin, the Bataan nuclear power station in the Philippines, pulp and paper mills to Indonesia, the OK Tedi mine in Papua New Guinea, military exports to Iraq – is extensive and well documented.
Address to the European Commission conference on export credit agencies and sustainable development
(June 20, 2006) Thank you very much to FERN and to the European Commission. It is an honour for me to be here to discuss this very important subject – how to prevent more unpayable Third World debts being created by the world’s export credit agencies.
Hope for a thirsty city: Rainwater harvesting in Beijing
(June 20, 2006) While the central government hangs its hopes on huge river diversion projects in the south and city residents carefully monitor their taps, a third alternative does exist for easing Beijing’s water woes: rainwater utilization.
Export credit debt prevention: speech by Patricia Adams
(June 20, 2006) I suspect the vast majority of ECA loans, credits, and guarantees to the Third World – which have doubled and now account for 34% of all Third World official debts – could be deemed "odious."
Export credit debt prevention
(June 20, 2006) Three steps to protecting future generations from export credit agencies.
Evaluation echoes civil society critique of World Bank-IMF debt relief efforts
(June 19, 2006) Countries in the midst of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative have seen a worsening of their debt and fiscal management, claims a new World Bank evaluation; other countries went back into debt trouble after completing the programme.
Norwegians push for examination of illegitimate debt
(June 19, 2006) Norway has reportedly established a $20,000 fund for the World Bank to undertake a study of odious and illegitimate debt.
Myanmar minorities fear being dammed and damned
(June 18, 2006) The 2,800 km-long Salween (Nu) River, southeast Asia’s longest undammed waterway, is fast becoming a front line in one of the world’s longest-running conflicts – the war between the Burmese junta and the region’s ethnic Karen people.
Cleanup efforts slow toxic spill in China
(June 18, 2006) Chinese authorities said a toxic coal tar spill flowing down a northern river had slowed as they rushed to stop it from reaching a reservoir that serves a city of 10 million and is a standby source for the 2008 Olympics.
Clean-up under way to save river from coal tar
(June 17, 2006) Clean-up efforts were under way on Friday to control coal tar contamination in a river in North China’s Hebei province, which is endangering a reservoir supporting Baoding, a city with a population of more than 10 million.
Help wanted to protect China’s Nu River
(June 15, 2006) The International Rivers Network (IRN) is appealing for help to keep the Nu (Salween) River in China flowing freely. The river is one of only two undammed rivers in China.
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
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