(March 4, 2006) China’s top environmental agency last week issued a set of “provisional guidelines” on the public’s right to participate in decision-making on large projects such as big dams.
Is Zhaiwan’s pipe dream coming true?
(March 3, 2006) Residents ofZhaiwan village in Hubei province, where a cancer cluster has been linked to the severe pollution of local rivers, have been promised clean drinking water piped right into their homes by the end of this month.
China to build world’s largest water-diversion project
(March 2, 2006) Despite concerns among environmental experts that cheaper, safer alternatives are being overlooked, officials have announced they are firmly embarked on the massive south-north water transfer scheme, aimed at solving China’s deepening water crisis.
Why poor countries are poor
(March 1, 2006) They call Douala the “armpit of Africa.” Lodged beneath the bulging shoulder of West Africa, this malaria-infested city in southwestern Cameroon is humid, unattractive, and smelly.
Cofferdam removal begins
Three Gorges Probe February 27, 2006 China Daily reports that work has begun on dismantling the temporary cofferdam built around the Three Gorges dam construction site when the main channel of the […]
China issuing first-ever fishing ban
(February 27, 2006) Alarmed by a sharp drop in fish populations, China plans to issue its first-ever ban on commercial fishing along the Yangtze River.
‘Few countries have much mettle for enforcing anti-bribery laws’
(February 27, 2006) According to Probe International in Toronto, Germany and Japan are challenging efforts to tighten anti-corruption guidelines covering companies supported by official export credit agencies.
Three Gorges dam: Fact Sheet
Just about everything you might want to know about the world’s biggest dam, at least in terms of its facts, figures, cubic metres and kilowatts.
Study says bad data by China inflated global fishing yields
Two University of British Columbia scientists have found evidence that substantial overreporting of the marine fish catch, mainly by China, has skewed official UN figures and caused complacency about the state of global fish stocks.
Experience and Practice of Combating Bribery in Officially Supported Export Credits
(February 24, 2006) Prepared by Dr. Sue Hawley, The Corner House, on behalf of ECA-Watch The evidence so far from the OECD Working Group on Bribery Phase 2 reviews.
Germany and Japan block new anti-bribery guidelines for export credit agencies
(February 24, 2006) Anti-bribery watchdog Probe International calls OECD guidelines "paper tiger" anyway.
Covering letter for the ECA-Watch briefing paper on bribery in its phase 2 reviews
(February 24, 2006) “The paper details comments made so far about Export Credit Agency practice on combating bribery and looks at the recommendations made by the OECD Working Group on Bribery and Phase 2 peer review examiners for improving ECA practice" regarding bribery.
Geologists urged to dig harder
(February 23, 2006) Vice-Premier Wen Jiabao warns that the success of the Three Gorges dam project hinges on the ability to predict disasters such as landslides, China Daily reports.
China to invest billions on water resources
(February 23, 2006) Beijing announces plans to spend US$48 million in the next few years shoring up embankments and building water-control projects.
Activists hail guidelines on public input into projects
(February 22, 2006) China’s top environmental agency today issued a groundbreaking set of guidelines on the public’s right to participate in decision-making on large construction projects such as big dams.
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