Earth Day

Earth Day is a good time to read these recommendations to U.S. President Biden from a taskforce on Southeast Asia policy, one of which is: “The U.S. must focus its attention on climate change as the defining geostrategic threat in the Indo-Pacific and work closely with Southeast Asian nations to help mitigate the damage. Southeast Asia is one of th… Read more

Last week, heads of state from Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand met for the third Mekong River Commission (MRC) Summit in Siem Reap to discuss the threats to the Mekong River region, among them how to develop effective coping strategies for climate-related vulnerabilities. Cambodia is already feeling the effects: the country recently endured a… Read more

Approximately 12 percent of the world’s population relies upon fisheries and aquaculture for their livelihood, and over half of the world’s people get a significant source of their animal protein from fish and seafood. In Southeast Asia, this proportion is significantly higher. The region’s seas not only serve as a major source of food and liveliho… Read more

Sitting beside the Mekong River, sipping a cold drink and enjoying the scenery is a welcome break for tourists and locals alike in Laos. You can usually see men out in their boats following the large seine nets that float down the river, and women dipping and then hoisting their large lift nets as they catch fish for their supper. But as one’s gaze… Read more

April 22 marks Earth Day around the globe. I was in 8th grade when Earth Day was first commemorated in 1970, and to mark the day, I participated in annual trash clean-up events at my school. At that time, my world was pretty much the town where I grew up in New Jersey and I didn’t think very much about the rest of the world, I just wanted my neighb… Read more

The Indonesian province of Riau declared a state of emergency last month as haze from agricultural fires across Sumatra continued to envelope the region. The fires are the result of an early dry period, which comes all too quickly after last year’s extended dry season that saw agricultural fires burn over two million hectares of peatland mostly in… Read more

Bangladesh’s economy grew 7.05 percent in the first three quarters of the financial year, averaging over 6 percent a year for the past decade. A major driver of the country’s impressive economic growth is its vibrant ready-made garment (RMG) sector, earning a reputation as a global leader in low-cost, high-quality manufacturing. Bangladesh’s RMG se… Read more

Bangladesh’s highly productive leather sector, under growing international scrutiny for destructive environmental practices, now seems poised for new growth as a major environmental upgrade nears completion. For decades, pollution from Dhaka’s tanneries has poured into the…

South Asia has witnessed rapid social and economic transformation over the last two decades. Undeterred by a global slowdown, the region’s economic growth rate is expected to remain at a respectable 6 and 6.4 percent for 2015 and 2016….

This February, the Cambodian Council of Ministers announced that they would review and possibly revoke the capital city’s contract with solid waste collector CINTRI. CINTRI has held the 49-year monopoly contract since 2003. Like growing cities throughout the developing world, Phnom Penh has struggled for years with dismally inadequate garbage collection.

Last month, China unveiled its grand urbanization plan to increase the number of people living in cities to 60 percent, or around 100 million additional people, by 2020. In fact, China’s migration plan reflects a global trend: right now, about half of the world’s population…

Bangladesh’s Buriganga River, which flows along the southwest border of Dhaka, has long been a lifeline for this sprawling capital of over 15 million, and is today a vital economic link to the rest of the country connected by an intricate network of rivers and tributaries.

The burgeoning growth of the apparel industry in Vietnam offers an opportunity to foster best practices in sustainable manufacturing processes. While China may be best known for, and is currently the leading global exporter for apparel, many multinational companies…

People were standing up and sitting down, intense negotiations were underway, funding decisions were being made, and a lot of commotion was coming from a crowd of over 300 policymakers, scientists, and practitioners from over 40 countries. We are gathered in Dhaka, Bangladesh…

Following the news on environmental issues here in China can be a grim business. The first months of 2013 alone brought coverage of January’s “airpocalypse,” when air pollution in Beijing reached historic levels; news of thousands of dead pigs floating in the Huangpu River, a primary source of Shanghai’s drinking water; and a new report indicating that China sees 1.2 million premature deaths each year due to outdoor air pollution – almost 40 percent of the world’s total of such deaths. Amid such bleak headlines, it can be easy to miss any kind of progress. However, a report released in late March does show progress on an issue that many experts consider crucial to long-term and sustained improvement of environmental outcomes…

Last week, the Asian Development Bank released its annual “Asian Development Outlook” report for 2013, with Asia’s success story of unprecedented growth in the last decades forecast to grow by 6.6 percent in 2013 and 6.7 percent in 2014.

Mongolia sits on some of the world’s largest mineral deposits, primarily coal and copper, as well as rare earth and precious metals. While the country’s abundant resources have driven Mongolia to the top of Asia’s economic performers, the rapid growth has not happened without serious concern…

As we celebrate Earth Day and the environment around us, The Asia Foundation is looking for your compelling photos that exemplify what the environment in Asia means to you. For example: What is your favorite natural environment or resource? What’s at stake or threatened in Asia’s environment?

The wonderful thing about Earth Day is that this annual global celebration of our planet is largely self-organized. There is no overarching organization or government that has been implementing all the projects held on this day for the past 42 years, nor are individuals required by law to plant trees, participate in clean-ups, or host events that promote environmental causes.

In February, Indonesia’s Constitutional Court struck down a controversial clause of the Forestry Law which had enabled the national government to declare the boundaries of the state forest zone without a proper mapping process. The Ministry of Forestry controls a state forest zone of 133 million hectares…

In late March, Ho Chi Minh City’s residents braced for heavy windfall and flooding as tropical storm Pakhar – the first storm of the season – headed for the nation’s economic hub. Many residents were caught off guard, as experts declared the storm “abnormally early.”

Over 40 years ago, the effort to raise political and public awareness about mounting environmental issues in America took hold, and in 1970, the first Earth Day was held. Inspired by the anti-Vietnam War movement seizing the United States at that time, millions of Americans from coast-to-coast marched in the streets…

As news spread about the recent earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, there was immediate concern about the effects to the people living on small islands and atolls belonging to more than 22 Pacific Island Nations and scattered across thousands of miles of Pacific Ocean.

On March 26, Bangladesh celebrated its 40th year as an independent nation. That same weekend, over 350 participants from over 60 countries gathered in Bangladesh for the 5th “International Conference on Community Based Adaptation to Climate Change.”

Bangladeshi communities – living in a nation recently dubbed “climate change ground zero” – have been quietly innovating and adapting to climate change in their backyards for some time. In coastal areas, floating gardens supply families with fresh vegetables in once dry, but now water logged areas.

In many ways, Laos, one of Southeast Asia’s most remote countries, is at the epicenter of regional debate over water and environmental sustainability. More than 85 percent of land in Laos lies within the Mekong River Basin, and communities rely on their rivers to survive.