Environment and land

Thailand is joining hands with six other Asian countries to try and tackle the issue of marine pollution, amid increasing criticism about plastic use in the region. Under a project called “Rethinking Plastics: Circular Economy Solutions to Marine Litter”, Thailand — along with China, Indonesia, Japan, ...

Australia, the Cambodian Mine Action and Victims Assistance Authority and the UN development programme on Friday signed a joint statement reaffirming their ongoing commitment to working toward a mine-free Cambodia by 2025.  The signing was attended by CMAA’s first Vice President Ly Thuch, Australian Ambassador to ...

Southeast Asian countries, among the world’s worst ocean polluters, need tougher regulations for plastic packaging to curb leakage, a United Nations report said on Wednesday. Southeast Asia is a major contributor to land-based plastic waste leaking into the world’s oceans, with more than half of it ...

A workshop on “Network for Agriculture and Rural Development Think-tanks for Countries in the Mekong sub-region” provided a platform for stakeholders to discuss their work plans. The workshop took place on Wednesday and was chaired by the Deputy Director General of the National Agriculture and Forestry ...

The Mekong River Delta is lower than previously thought. Ground subsidence and rising sea levels threaten the lives of more than 21 million people who inhabit the region as well as Vietnam’s food security since the latter grows 56 per cent of the country’s rice. The ...

The animals of Southeast Asia’s tropical rainforests are under threat. As if deforestation and habitat degradation weren’t enough to contend with, cheap, easy-to-produce illegal snares are being set at an alarming rate in the last refuges for wildlife in the region, indiscriminately killing and maiming ...

The Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), a major funder of climate projects, has approved a US$10 million project that’s expected to benefit 10 per cent of Laos’ population. The project is using nature-based solutions in four cities to build resilience towards ever-increasing floods ...

The National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) will ask the cabinet to adopt its guidelines on infrastructure development on Tuesday, as the government seeks to start working on the long-awaited link that will connect the Dawei Special Economic Zone in Myanmar with Eastern Economic ...

A committee will be set up comprising farmers and civil society organisations to resolve farmland problems in Kachin State, U M Kawn La of the Kachin National Congress said. The committee, to initially include political party officials, law experts, civil society groups and literature associations, will discuss ...

My grandfather turned his head and watched as his house was engulfed in the devastating water.  On a tiny boat, my grandparents and their neighbours carried some clothes wrapped in plastic sheets, leaving the village for higher ground. It was November 2, 1999, when strong cold ...