Resources

Resources • STORY OF THE DAY • Jan 15, 2021 • 8 min read

Analysis The hidden cost: Are Cambodia’s carbon credits really clean and green?

By Dr Sarah Milne • Jan 15, 2021
As global corporations, looking to offset their own emissions, pour money into eco-friendly projects in Cambodia as part of the carbon credits scheme, lurking beneath this seemingly positive initiative is corruption, rights abuses and violence says Dr Sarah Milne

Resources • STORY OF THE DAY • Dec 31, 2020 • 2 min read

Human rights US bans palm oil imports from second Malaysian firm

By Agence France-Presse • Dec 31, 2020
For the second time in recent months, the United States has banned imports from a Malaysian palm oil giant over concerns that its workers face a litany of abuse, including sexual and physical violence, withholding of wages and restrictions on movement

Resources • STORY OF THE DAY • Dec 21, 2020 • 4 min read

Natural resources Cambodia’s giant life-giving Tonle Sap lake in peril

By Suy Se/AFP • Dec 21, 2020
More than a million people live on or around Tonle Sap lake, the world's largest inland fishery, but as a result of climate change and dams upstream on the Mekong, water levels are falling and fish stocks are dwindling

Resources • Dec 03, 2020 • 12 min read
Natural resources

A Kingdom of sand

Much of Cambodia's rapid economic growth in recent decades can be attributed to one substance: sand. Homes are built with it, islands created and wetlands filled. But while it's being extracted en masse from the Kingdom's rivers, environmental considerations in the shadowy industry are hard to come by
By Andrew Haffner • Dec 03, 2020

Resources • Nov 20, 2020 • 5 min read
Analysis

Fires and Covid-19: A disaster duo in Indonesia

Each year, Indonesians suffer through toxic haze during the country's annual fire season. This year, with the archipelago nation recording some of the highest cases of Covid-19 in the region, the added complication of the pandemic means the health of millions is at stake
By Rebekah Baynard-Smith • Nov 20, 2020

Resources • Oct 22, 2020 • 3 min read
Podcast

The Anakut podcast: The fate of the Mighty Mekong

Joining Meng and Andrew in their Phnom Penh studio this week are Ham Oudom and Pich Charadine, with chatter turning to one, very large, issue – the fate of the once-Mighty Mekong
By Andrew Haffner • Oct 22, 2020

Resources • Oct 16, 2020 • 8 min read
Recycling

Vietnam’s long and winding road to plastic waste reduction

A booming economy has given rise to fast-tracked consumption in Vietnam, and with it mounting waste. The country's leaders have introduced legislation to curb its plastic habit, but some observers warn it still has the potential to become the world's garbage dump
By Ashley Lampard • Oct 16, 2020

Resources • Sep 28, 2020 • 6 min read
Community rights

Pooling resources: Fostering solidarity among Mekong communities

With rural communities along the Mekong living at the mercy of the geopolitical whims of nations controlling the river's flow and development, attempts are being made to band these disparate people together to regain control over their fate
By Jacob Goldberg • Sep 28, 2020

Resources • Jul 29, 2020 • 3 min read
Land rights

Philippines deadliest country in Asia for land defenders

NGO Global Witness has released a report showing the Philippines to be the deadliest country in Asia for land and environmental rights activists, with the archipelago seeing a marked rise in deaths under the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte
By Agence France-Presse • Jul 29, 2020

Resources • Jul 01, 2020 • 6 min read
Analysis

Peatland, Southeast Asia’s wasted weapon to fight climate change

While Southeast Asia remains vulnerable to the effects of climate change, resource management remains poor in the region. Nowhere is this more evident than with peatlands, the region's biggest weapon against climate change, exploited and damaged in the name of profit
By Helena Taruli and Muchtazar • Jul 01, 2020

Resources • Jun 26, 2020 • 10 min read
Land rights

David vs Goliath: Indonesian communities push back against palm oil firm

In Sumatra, communities have reported for years the encroachment upon their land by multi-national agribusiness group Wilmar to develop palm oil plantations. But Nagari Institute director Zulkifli is helping those at the Indonesian grassroots push back
By Zachary Frye • Jun 26, 2020