In the Media

This article originally appeared in The Bangkok Post. International Rivers has expressed disappointment at the outcome of the second Mekong River Commission (MRC) summit, which wrapped up yesterday.

Originally published in Cambodia Daily – Leading conservation groups on Sunday issued a joint declaration opposing the construction of Laos’ controversial Xayaburi hydropower dam as communities in northeastern Cambodia staged protests on Saturday against the project, which experts say could harm millions of people living downstream.

Originally published by Reuters WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) - The World Bank's board on Thursday approved a $73 million grant to help the Democratic Republic of Congo develop an expansion of the Inga hydroelectric dam, potentially the largest hydropower site in the world. The money, combined with another $33 million from the African Development Bank, will fund technical studies to analyze the dam's environmental and social impact and ensure it is sustainable, the World Bank said in a statement. The grant will also help establish the independent Inga Development Authority, which is mea

Originally published in The Wall Street Journal Hydropower dams in parts of Southeast Asia are being canceled or suspended as governments face stronger opposition, forcing them to take greater responsibility for environmental and social impact or look to other sources of energy. The resistance, in a region where vast hydropower potential remains untapped, occurs as energy demand is skyrocketing. With dams facing opposition over social, environmental and geopolitical factors, the days of indiscriminate building may be coming to an end, requiring countries to reconsider energy security and ener

เมื่อสัปดาห์ก่อนกองเลขาคณะกรรมาธิการแม่น้ำโขง (MRC) จัดประชุมวาระพิเศษสำหรับ 4 ประเทศลุ่มน้ำโขงตอนล่าง อันได้แก่ลาว ไทย กัมพูชา และเวียดนาม เพื่อหารือกรณีโครงการเขื่อนดอนสะโฮง กั้นแม่น้ำโขง ในบริเวณสีพันดอน ลาวใต

The future of decision-making around the region’s most vital resource – the mighty Mekong River – is once again under the spotlight. The Mekong River Commission’s Joint Committee, comprised of representatives from Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, will hold a special meeting next week in Vientiane to discuss the controversial Don Sahong Dam, the second dam proposed on the lower Mekong mainstream.

As you read this, a power outage is affecting much of Africa and South Asia. It will not be over in a few hours or days: about 1.4 billion people live in a state of permanent blackout. More than two out of three people in sub-Saharan Africa and almost half of India's rural population have no access to electricity. They cannot light their homes, refrigerate their food or power their work.

The Mekong is the natural habitat of the endangered Irrawaddy dolphin. The 4,000 islands region, as it’s known, is home to one of world’s biggest Irrawaddy dolphin pools. This month, workers will begin constructing a 100-foot-high, 256-megawatt dam that will eventually tower over the river. Within the next year, scientists say, these dolphins will almost certainly be wiped out. Soon after, millions of fish in southern Laos will perish as well. Environmentalists contend that the dam will threaten the livelihood of about 60 million people in Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, who depend o

Cambodia's per capita consumption of inland fish is among the highest in the world and its people depend on fish for nearly three-quarters of their protein intake. But information released by the Cambodian Fisheries Administration (FiA) may be a game-changer for the future of the Mekong River. A report financed by the Danish development agency Danida, Oxfam and WWF shows how the combined effects of mainstream dams in Cambodia and population growth could reduce the country's consumption of fish from 49kg to as little as 22kg per person per year by 2030 that is an astounding 55% reduction. The r

On August 1, 2013 Gary Graham Hughes interviewed Kate Ross, Patagonia Coordinator and Program Associate at International Rivers, for the EcoNews Report at KHSU.