Depleted coastal fishing grounds and Chinese incursions have made life harder for Vietnam’s struggling fishermen.
Category: Eye Original
Mekong Eye’s original stories contributed by local journalists, partners, and grantees of the Internews’ Earth Journalism Network.
‘New Normal’ in the Mekong Delta
Climate change, saline intrusion, and hydropower dams have all significantly impacted farmers’ livelihoods but Resolution 120, a response from the Vietnamese government, is expected to provide some hope for a shift in agricultural strategy and food security for the future.
Vietnam targets net zero, but struggles to break coal dependence
As foreign investors turn away from coal, an internal struggle is taking place over Vietnam’s energy path.
Floods and Migrants of Vietnam’s Mekong Delta: 25 Lessons from the Data
Data on agricultural, hydropower, saltwater intrusion and rainfall patterns in Vietnam Mekong Delta explains where the country’s food comes from, why it’s disappearing and what can be done about it.
Battling the Haze: Fighting against a pandemic, pollution, and inequality.
Every morning Pu wakes up to the loud sounds of the city. Putting on her orange vest, she revves her motorbike and rides out to begin a long day of carrying passengers to their destinations with speed. She has become one with the motion of the Thai metropolis. But the city’s toxic air has not been […]
Unraveling the Mystery of Laos U-Turn from Renewables to Coal to Power the Battery of Southeast Asia
After years of hydropower supercharging Laos’ successful ambition to become the key power exporter in the region, Laos’ energy export market has taken a surprising turn … towards coal. According to most international analysis from Carbon Tracker to Bloomberg, carbon is dying. Yet in Laos, energy carbon production went from zero to half of all […]
Data Exposes Flaws in Mekong Delta Resilience Plans
Resilience plans focus on exploiting Vietnam’s scarce water resources instead of shifting agriculture away from water-intensive crops and practices. For generations, Vietnamese communities have used the ample water resources and fertile soil of the Mekong Delta to feed the nation. Fueled by the Mekong’s constant supply of rich sediment, the fisheries and paddy fields of Vietnam’s […]
Do emerging innovations offer a slight glimmer of hope for clean air in Thailand?
PM2.5 has gained wide public awareness amongst Thais for nearly a decade. Many probably have questioned how much longer we need to live with the health crisis brought on by the annual recurrent problem of ultra-fine dust particles which the World Health Organization (WHO) claimed causes 4.2 million premature deaths worldwide each year. However, […]
Mekong fishermen struggle to survive
As dawn breaks on the serene lake of Bình Thiên in An Giang Province, fisherman Đặng Hữu Đức instructs his 17-year-old son to cast a net into the clear water of the largest freshwater lake in Việt Nam’s Mekong Delta. To his son’s disappointment, when the net is hauled back it doesn’t contain many fish, unlike during Đức’s […]
Cambodia’s Mismatch of Solar Potential and Energy Harvesting
KAMPONG CHHNANG, CAMBODIA — Lorn Chanlita, 23, had long wished to run her own business of selling sugar cane juice to support her family. But her dream only became reality after her village was electrified by solar power early this year. Before solar, Chanlita used a generator to power light bulbs, fans, a TV and […]