Water and river grabbing refers to situations where powerful actors such as developers and governments are able to take control of, or reallocate to their own benefits – including decision-making power – the use of rivers and water resources.
Category: Region
Selected environmental stories from media outlets in the Mekong region and beyond.
Do Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) allow ‘river grabbing’?
Though hydropower is considered a form of clean energy, the construction and operation of hydropower dams can drastically destroy rivers, and alter people’s way of life forever. Therefore, assessment of the environmental impacts of specific hydropower projects is crucial to avoid what can be called ‘river grabbing’.
Shan and Karen CSOs strongly oppose Salween Dam
Villagers and CSOs from Shan State and Karen State on 10 March protested against the Mong Ton hydropower project during the first public consultation meeting held by the Australian consulting firm, the Snowy Mountain Engineering Corporation (SMEC) in Taunggyi, Shan State.
Mekong nations to set up EIA working group
Government officials and civil society representatives from across the Mekong region have agreed to establish a working group to develop a regional public participation guideline for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) recently in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Myanmar: Shan Villagers and the Salween Dam Fight
The increasing army presence to defend the construction of a controversial Salween river dam in southeastern Myanmar’s Shan state has sparked heightened concerns among rural villagers, who are determined to fight the development that threatens their livelihoods.
Environment experts discuss dam dangers
Thirty-five experts from environmental organisations in Cambodia, Laos and Viet Nam gathered yesterday to discuss water management and the effects of hydropower dams.
Asean should ensure sustainable mineral development: Lao Deputy Prime Minister
The Lao government is focusing on the promotion of sustainable agricultural systems for food security in Asean when the country integrates with the Asean Economic Community (AEC) at the end of this year.
The Agriculture Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, in cooperation with Deutsche Gesellschaftfür Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is hosting the 6th project partner meeting of the German Regional Cooperation project’s Asean sustainable agrifood systems (Asean SAS) initiative, which is being implemented by GIZ.
Laos Dam Project a Black Eye For Mekong Cooperation
When the Lao national assembly last week approved a potentially destructive dam project just 2 kilometers from the border with Cambodia, the surprise announcement was yet another blow to the regional framework designed to protect the Mekong River.
Dam threat to Mekong River’s last few dolphins
The fate of the last surviving Irrawaddy river dolphins on the Laos-Cambodian border hangs in the balance after a Laos government official was reported as saying this week that construction of the dam would begin by the end of the year.
Mekong Governments, Civil Society Reach Agreement on Environmental Impact Assessment Agenda
MPE, Prachatai In a ground-breaking agreement, government officials and civil society representatives from across the Mekong region established a working group to develop a regional public participation guideline for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) this week in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Mekong Regional Technical Working Group for EIA brings together governments, civil society organizations (CSOs), and will […]