Proponents of hydropower are out in full force in Madrid this week, keen to profit from and perpetuate the myth of hydropower’s climate benefits.

Asean’s governments continue to abuse the environment but the regional body’s shared ecological efforts to tackle the issues, like the shared Mekong River, are pitiful.

China knows it’s causing hardship for millions downstream, but focuses on using the media to ensure it controls the Mekong narrative with no “real efforts to fix the problems in the long run.”

For the dam’s investor and supporters, Xayaburi symbolises the “advancing partnership” among Asean members. Yet whether it will lead to “sustainability” remains a big question.

Every since China erected a cascade of giant dams on the Mekong, droughts have become more frequent and intense in the downriver countries. Beijing denies that its upriver dams are to blame.

Asean nations urged to embrace South Korean river management know-how.