The Pak Mun Dam is the only case in the whole Mekong Basin where dam affected people have demanded the decommissioning of the dam.
An alternate past/future for Mekong River dams under the UN Watercourses Convention
This three-part article by international water law consultant Rémy Kinna looks at dams in the Mekong. Kinna examines the existing legal framework for regulating dam development in the region and how its legal gaps and ambiguities have led to ongoing disputes (particularly in regard to the Xayaburi Dam in Laos), and how to improve dispute resolution and strengthen water governance across the Mekong River mainstream and its tributaries under the UN Watercourses Convention.
Too many dams to look after
As China continues to embrace a new era of hydropower expansion, demand for dam inspection has outpaced the country’s supply of inspectors, ramping up safety fears for thousands of small- and medium-sized dams in China’s rural areas that have been “ignored”, reports Ecns.cn.
The silent partner
The future looks good for Canadian arms manufacturers, says journalist Paul Christopher Webster in this in-depth look at the sale of Canadian-built light armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia — a sale approved by the Conservative government and supported by the Trudeau administration despite concerns the vehicles could be used against civilian populations.
People power for China’s rivers
China’s environment minister enlists people power to help clean up the country’s “black and stinky” waterways.
Mekong Delta loses half of silt to upstream dams: scientists
A soft shield of silt that took over 6,000 years to form and which protects the ‘rice bowl’ of Vietnam against intrusion from seawater, erosion and declining groundwater levels has been seriously stripped by Chinese dams on the Mekong River, say experts. Half of the river’s essential sediment is now trapped upstream and the delta may be in jeopardy of disappearing altogether. Thanh Nien News reports.
Why linking rivers won’t work
India’s proposed Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) project would entail the creation of 3,000 large dams and “environmental tinkering on an epic scale”. Proponents say ILR is the “only way forward” for a country facing a projected population of 1.6 billion in 2050. Detractors say “there’s simply no evidence to justify what the government wants to attempt”.
A warning for parched China: a city runs out of water
Experts fear Lintao’s dry-up is a sign of things to come. Probe International fellow and noted Chinese environmental journalist, Dai Qing, says China’s water scarcity and toxicity is the greatest danger facing her country today.
How the industrialization of the Amazon is transforming Brazil
Canadian photographer Aaron Vincent Elkaim’s photographic documentary series on Brazil’s controversial Bela Monte dam awarded a $20,000 Alexia Foundation grant.
The myth of sustainable hydropower
2016 will be a decisive year for hydropower projects on the mainstream Mekong. Southeast-Asia based journalist, Tom Fawthrop, looks at the notion of ‘nice dams’ that supposedly don’t inflict too much damage on their surrounding environments and their opposite reality: the hidden costs of hydropower and the irreversible destruction of unique ecosystems.
Carbon credit rort has to stop
Turns out New Zealanders have been buying carbon credits from the Ukraine. In the wake of the country’s Climate Cheats scandal, Andrew Dickens, for New Zealand’s Newstalk ZB, calls out the Emissions Trading Scheme as “rortable”.
St. Lawrence River is ‘slowly dying,’ U.S. environmental group warns
American Rivers says “harmful” dam operations, not pollution, are threatening fish, wildlife and local communities.
Fearing a flood
Alarm over northern Iraq’s Mosul Dam continues to mount. This in-depth Globe and Mail update looks at how Saddam Hussein’s vanity project reached this point and what will happen if the dam does fail.
Public has more trust in foreign aid than government – survey
An international survey finds Ghanaians have more confidence in outside agencies and companies operating within the country, than their own government. Ghana Pulse reports.
Queen’s Park the biggest winner with cap and trade
Cap and trade will provide endless reasons for interest groups to lobby Queen’s Park for access to the many exemptions and potential political favours embedded in the legislation.
Patricia Adams
Brady Yauch
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
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