WEEKLY NEWS DIGEST
Curating news, commentary and resources on development, its environmental and social impacts, and the context affecting the Mekong Region
MEKONG DEVELOPMENT
China joins Lower Mekong River countries to study impacts of climate change, dams
Many of the details of the study have yet to be worked out, from exactly which tributaries to focus on to how much data China will share on how it operates its dams. To date, China has refused to reveal how much water its dams release. Furthermore, there is concern that China could use the collaboration as an opportunity to push the narrative that its dams’ disruption of the Mekong’s seasonal flood cycle actually helps downstream countries, despite a lack of evidence, and that some MRC officials make similar claims.
CAMBODIA
Developing sustainable climate resilient infrastructure solutions in Cambodia
The Asian Development Bank, with support from the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience of the Climate Investment Funds, is assisting Cambodia to build climate-resilient infrastructure through a $588 million investment program called Strategic Program for Climate Resilience. The program led to the development of new regulations, technical guidelines, and legal requirements on construction of infrastructure specific to the nation’s three distinct geographic regions: the coastal areas, the highlands, and the central lowlands.
LAOS
Lao workers on China-backed railway project go unpaid
Twenty at one work site are paid after they cut off power to the project, but more than a hundred are still waiting for their pay.. They earn between one million kip (U.S. $100) and two million kip each month.
Myanmar
Beijing tells regime It fears attack on Its oil, gas pipelines in Myanmar
Chinese officials in Beijing and Yangon-based Chinese diplomats are concerned that forces inside Myanmar seek to instigate anti-China unrest and may be planning to attack China’s twin oil-and-gas pipelines running 800km across the country.
Thailand
Thai water project gives Beijing a new Belt and Road foothold
Thailand’s military-dominated government is paving the way for a Chinese state-owned enterprise to land a water diversion project, the first of its kind in the country and a likely steppingstone for China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Vietnam
Vietnam proposes establishment of comprehensive database on multi-dimensional impacts of sea-level rise
Addressing the UN Security Council last week resident Nguyen Xuan Phuc proposed that the UN should establish a comprehensive database system on multi-dimensional impacts of sea-level rise in support of global response policy formulation.