Showing 51 - 60 of 188
Cashing in on Sino-US 'green' race
Oped, Published on 17/02/2021
» After taking office as the president of the United States last month, Joe Biden has been translating his campaign promises on climate change into action, with the support from the young, progressive wing in the Democrat party. Among the highlights in his proposals include pledges for net-zero emissions and a 100% clean energy economy by 2050 -- a clear reversal from Donald Trump, a climate change denier who had a cosy relationship with the fossil fuel industry.
Dealing With A Covid-19 Side Effect
Guru, Pornchai Sereemongkonpol, Published on 22/01/2021
» One side effect of the Covid-19 pandemic that you may have overlooked (besides amassing a vast collection of hand sanitisers and exposing govt inefficiency -- kapow!) is more waste, especially plastic. Inevitably, it is exacerbated by our appetite for food delivery while we're WFH during this quasi-lockdown. The first wave saw an increase of plastic waste by 60% in Bangkok due to the higher demand for food delivery as estimated by Thailand Environment Institute in May last year. Thailand Research Development Insitute also claimed that one such order can contain up to seven pieces of plastic waste (so opt-out of utensils when you order please).
Mekong drowned in water politics
News, Editorial, Published on 10/01/2021
» The mighty Mekong River is the heart and soul of Southeast Asia. Millions of livelihoods are linked to it, especially in terms of food, energy and water security. Besides giving birth to one of the planet's most biodiverse river basins, the transboundary nature of the river -- which begins its journey in the Tibetan plateau and flows 2,140km through China before entering downstream Southeast Asia -- means it is facing a threat to its existence like none before: hydropolitics.
Nail in coffin for Lao dam?
Oped, Editorial, Published on 28/11/2020
» The government's new stance against the Sanakham Dam on the Mekong River in Laos may be a nail in the coffin of this hydro-powered project proposed by Chinese investors.
Fight for the Mekong gathers pace
Oped, Passakorn Jumlongrach, Published on 26/11/2020
» More than 20 years ago, when two Chiang Rai-based environmentalists, Niwat Roikaew and Somkiat Kuenwongsa, learned that the Chinese government were blasting rapids in the upper Mekong River from Yunnan to Myanmar and Laos to clear the way for large commercial vessels, they started worrying.
Hydrogen is and isn't the future
News, Published on 10/11/2020
» Surely hydrogen is the future of energy. Why else would the European Union, as part of its Green Deal, plan to shovel 470 billion euros (17 trillion baht) into infrastructure to electrolyse and use the stuff? Why else would China, Japan and South Korea be placing their own huge bets on the gas?
Autocratic regimes are digging their own graves
Oped, Published on 18/08/2020
» Authoritarian regimes often enjoy more public support than democratic governments do. To discover why, my colleagues and I administered the Asian Barometer Survey in four waves across 14 Asian countries between 2001 and 2016. What we found, is that authoritarian regimes actually suffer from acute near- and long-term vulnerabilities.
Rethink 'Asia battery' plan
Oped, Editorial, Published on 30/07/2020
» Two years ago this month, the villagers of Attapeu in southern Laos encountered their worst nightmare when the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower dam, which was under construction, failed. Massive torrents of water swept through several villages, causing 71 deaths, heavy damage to properties and left around 7,000 homeless.
The unseen human cost of cheap power
Oped, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 29/07/2020
» On July 23, 2018, the villagers of Attapeu, a sleepy town in southern Laos, suffered their worst nightmare when the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower dam suddenly burst, unleashing massive torrents of water that swallowed local villages, killing 71. More than 7,000 were made homeless.
Let's not return to the 'old normal'
News, Published on 16/06/2020
» The world before Covid-19 looks very attractive right now. In light of the disease, mass unemployment and social distancing, a return to pre-pandemic normality seems appealing. Yet we should remember what normal was.