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10 Nov 2020 GENEVA, Switzerland

The Harmful Environmental Impacts Of War

A new, jointly-produced report from a diverse group of organisations working on human rights, peacebuilding and environmental issues has been launched to demonstrate the breadth and complexity of conflict-linked environmental harm.Case studies from Iraq, Syria, Colombia, Yemen, Ukraine, Laos DPR and Senegal direct attention to the environment in relation to armed conflict...

13 Jul 2019 ROME, Italy

UNFAO: Conflict And Climate Conditions Continue To Exacerbate Food Insecurity

Variable climate conditions and persistent conflicts contine to cause high levels of food insecurity in 41 countries, with 31 of these in Africa, UNFAO has reported. The Crop Prospects and Food Situation report issued by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization July 4, relates that these countries continue to be in food deficit and in need of external assistance, a situation that has not changed in three months...

9 Nov 2016 PHNOM PENH, Cambodia

Laos Seeks Permission to Build Another Hydropower Dam on the Mekong

The government of Laos has submitted a new request to the Mekong River Commission (MRC) secretariat to construct a dam on the Mekong, the MRC said in a statement this week.The Pak Beng Hydropower Project, a run-of-river project located on the river’s mainstream in Oudomxay province, would have an installed capacity of 912 megawatts and would discharge 5,771...

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29 Aug 2016 VIENTIANE, Laos

Laos Inaugurates Don Sahong Dam Construction

Laos has inaugurated construction work on the 260-megawatt Don Sahong hydropower project on the Mekong River this month, Lao news agency KPL reported last week.Laos had announced plans to start construction of the $720 million USD, 260-megawatt Don Sahong Dam back in October 2015.The project has faced opposition from local communities in other Mekong states, as well as from environmental groups, due to concerns over its impacts on livelihoods and ecosystems...

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15 Jun 2016 PHNOM PENH, Cambodia

United Nations Human Rights Council to Discuss Don Sahong Dam

During its 32nd session this week, the United Nations Human Rights Council will discuss concerns from people in the region about Laos’s Don Sahong Dam project.The Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council has detailed human rights concerns over the dam, including its trans-boundary impacts on millions of people in the Mekong River Basin who depend on fish stocks and other riverine resources for their food security and livelihoods...

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23 Mar 2016 SANYA, China

Mekong Nations Sign “Sanya Declaration” for Cooperation

China and fellow Mekong riparians on March 23rd signed the “Sanya Declaration,” which aims to set the tone for future cooperation to enhance economic ties and increase security in the region.The declaration came on the first day of the inaugural Mekong-Lancang Cooperation meeting, which is being held in the southern Chinese city of Sanya, in Hainan province, from March 23rd-24th...

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15 Mar 2016 VIENTIANE, Laos

Laos Pledges to Limit Downstream Impacts of Don Sahong Dam

Laos will work to ensure that its downstream neighbors do not suffer negative impacts as a result of the Don Sahong hydropower project, a top Lao political official told Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen over the weekend.During a meeting with Hun Sen in the Lao capital, Vientiane, on March 12th, Bounhang Vorachith, secretary-general of the ruling Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, said that “Laos will make an effort to ensure that there will be no impact” on downstream nations from the dam...

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9 Feb 2016 PHNOM PENH, Cambodia

Civil Society Groups Want US, ASEAN to Take Up Issue of Laos’ Don Sahong Dam

Environmental and civil society groups in the lower Mekong region are calling on the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to address Laos’ Don Sahong hydropower project during talks with US President Barack Obama next week.Cambodian NGOs conveyed the request to US Secretary of State John Kerry during his visit to the country last month, Voice of America’s Khmer news service reported...

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7 Jan 2016 BANGKOK, Thailand

Thai Court Dismisses Lower Mekong Villagers’ Lawsuit Against Xayaburi Dam Power Purchase

Thailand’s Administrative Court in late December dismissed a lawsuit filed in 2012 by Chiang Rai villagers who alleged that government agencies had acted illegally in signing an agreement to purchase power from Laos’ contentious Xayaburi hydropower dam on the Mekong River.In his ruling, obtained by local media, the judge found that the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat), the Energy Policy and Planning Office (Eppo), the Energy Ministry, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the cabinet had complied with the Mekong River Commission’s (MRC) Procedure for Notification Prior Consultation and Agreement (PNCPA) before signing the power purchase agreement...

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16 Nov 2015 AN GIANG, Vietnam

Mekong Communities Again Raise Concerns About Laos’ Don Sahong Dam

More than 6,400 residents of Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia last week signed a statement expressing their continued concerns about Laos’ planned Don Sahong Dam project on the Mekong River.Among the issues detailed in the statement, which was presented during the Mekong People’s Forum in An Giang, Vietnam, were the potential impact of the dam on local fisheries, and what signatories said was a lack of information and consultation with affected communities about the project’s effects...

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20 Oct 2015 VIENTIANE, Laos

Laos to Inform Neighbors About Start of Don Sahong Dam Construction

Laos will send an official delegation to Vietnam and Thailand to inform them that construction is starting on the $720 million USD, 260-megawatt Don Sahong Dam, according to Daovong Phonekeo, director general of the Energy Policy and Planning Department at the Lao Ministry of Energy and Mines.“We used to talk about the dam often, so it’s not a new issue,” Daovung told Radio Free Asia’s Lao Service...

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7 Oct 2015 PHNOM PENH, Cambodia

Cambodian Foreign Minister Calls on Laos to Conduct Further Studies on Contentious Don Sahong Dam

Cambodian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong on October 6th urged Laos to carry out further studies on the environmental impacts of the $720 million USD, 260-megawatt Don Sahong Dam.During a meeting with visiting Lao Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavad, Hor Namhong reiterated the concerns of Cambodia and fellow lower Mekong riparian countries Thailand and Vietnam about the dam's potential impacts on environment, water quality and fish migration...

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