(February 9, 2010) Chinese activist Tan Zuoren has been sentenced to five years in jail for subversion. The environmentalist was arrested last March after he began investigating the deaths of thousands of children who were crushed when their schools collapsed on them in the May 2008 earthquake in Sichuan.
Another foreign aid critic says there is a better way
(January 29, 2010) Brian Griffiths, an international adviser for Goldman Sachs, is another voice in what is quickly becoming a chorus of foreign aid critics that are heralding the use of private markets and funds as way to promote economic growth on the African continent. In a recent lecture at Oxford University, Griffiths said churches already working in Africa should help promote businesses and markets in countries across the continent.
Three Gorges pushes another 300,000 off their land, surprises nobody
(January 21, 2010) The Chinese government is preparing to push another 300,000 residents living near the Three Gorges dam off their land to make way for what officials are calling an “eco-screen, or buffer belt.”
Three Gorges dam fails to provide during winter storm
(January 6, 2010) The much-promised electricity from the Three Gorges dam is failing China’s citizens when they need it most—during one of the most intense winter storms the country has experienced in decades. According to recent reports, the Chinese government is now urging the country’s factory operators to scale back operations to ensure sufficient power to heat homes, as demand has surged with the below-freezing temperatures.
Russian Roulette: Russia’s surplus of carbon credits too big of a gamble for some
(December 23, 2009) A recent article in the Wall Street Journal details one of the many problems facing the implementation of carbon markets: the political tampering of an artificial market. According to the story, Russia is demanding that it be able to retain its massive surplus of emissions permits after they expire in 2012. Yet, critics argue that if Russia were to off-load these credits on international carbon markets, it would lead to a collapse in the price of carbon.
More Three Gorges migrants returning home
(December 18, 2009) Migrants displaced by the construction of the Three Gorges dam are returning to their hometowns after they struggled to make a living in their new homes, says a recent report in Shanghai Daily. According to the report, almost 200,000 residents from the Hubei Province and Chongqing Municipality were forced to move last year after the Three Gorges reservoir submerged 20 districts or counties.
Thinking outside the foreign aid box
(December 18, 2009) Foreign aid is facing more criticism this time from an official at the United Nations Millennium Campaign. According to a recent report in the Guardian UK, Sylvia Mwichuli, the UN millennium campaign communications coordinator, told an audience attending a media workshop that governments in Africa must look for different ways to finance their national budgets, rather than relying on foreign aid.
UN has second thoughts about giving carbon credits to China’s wind farms
(December 11, 2009) Recent reports say that a United Nations committee has stopped giving carbon credits to developers of wind energy projects in China, citing concerns that the projects qualified for the credits unfairly. The UN is concerned that the Chinese government lowered its subsidies to wind farms so they would qualify for carbon credits through the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
Filmmaker says problems from the Three Gorges dam are here to stay
(December 7, 2009) The social and political environment in the area around the Three Gorges dam remains tense, residents believe that more 50 percent of the resettlement funds were misappropriated by government officials and the problems from the project are not manageable and will plague the area as long as the dam stands, says Shi Ming, producer of the award-winning documentary, “Countdown on the Yangtze”.
Ethiopia’s Tekeze dam limps into operation
(November 23, 2009) The vastly over-budget and long-delayed Tekeze hydro-electric in Ethiopia is finally finished. The project, which was first proposed seven years ago and was scheduled to be competed in 2008, in the end cost $360-million—$136-million over budget.
The bills pile high for operators of Three Gorges
(November 19, 2009) A recent report by Chris Buckley in Reuters offers more evidence that the final price tag for the Three Gorges dam will be far higher than officials admit. According to Buckley, a draft plan prepared for the central government says a backlog of problems created by the construction of the dam require an additional $24.9-billion to solve.
Foreign aid on the ropes
(November 16, 2009) The Canadian International Development Agency is effectively dysfunctional, lacking the ability to effectively and strategically deliver its $3-billion foreign aid budget, says a recent report by Canada’s auditor general, Sheila Fraser.
More evidence the Zipingpu dam may be to blame for the Wenchuan earthquake
(November 6, 2009) A recent article by scientists in the U.S. provides further evidence that the Zipingpu dam’s reservoir may have triggered the devastating May 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China. The Wenchuan earthquake killed nearly 90,000 people and unleashed a chorus of speculation that the Zipingpu reservoir may have contributed to the severity of the earthquake, or helped to trigger it.
Pakistan needs taxation with representation, not U.S. aid, says Finance Minister
If Pakistan’s government fixed the nation’s broken tax system, it would not be forced to accept foreign aid from Western countries, says the country’s Federal Minister for Finance and Revenues, Shaukat Tareen. His remarks come in the wake of street protests by citizens and heated debates by lawmakers in the country against a $7.5-billion aid package, known as the Kerry-Lugar bill.
Local residents say Three Gorges dam aggravating drought
(October 30, 2009) Three Gorges dam officials are defending their plan to continue to raise the project’s reservoir level, saying a higher reservoir will help residents living downstream face a potentially more dangerous drought in the upcoming dry season. But local residents say the dam is making an already severe, and deadly, drought even worse.
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
Lisa Peryman
Probe Media
Other News Sources
Probe International 