Whether it is for power generation or irrigation, all upstream developments on the Mekong River put Vi?t Nam at risk as the last downstream country, experts said yesterday. Hence all countries in the Mekong River basin should rethink their approaches and adopt measures to minimise impacts on communities and the ecosystem, said Tr?nh Lê Nguyên, director of People and Nature Reconciliation (PanNature), a Vietnamese non-governmental organisation.
Under President Xi Jinping, China has been aggressively asserting claims to most of the South China Sea, angering neighbors by turning specks of rock into artificial islands. Another water fight could be just as explosive: this one involving fresh water.
After seven years of decicated work in the position of Policy Program Manager, Ms. Tran Thanh Thuy has resigned from August 2016. From beginning of September 2016, Ms. Tran Thanh Thuy will be succeeded by Ms. Nguyen Thi Hai Van.
Speaking at a conference on forest management held on Tuesday in Gia Lai Province, Nguy?n Vi?t D?ng, deputy director of the nonprofit PanNature, said the restoration of forests was feasible if it brought economic benefits such as profits from cassava and coffee cultivation.
Implementing the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) will help Vi?t Nam fight corruption in the resources extraction sector, participants were told at a workshop held yesterday in Hà N?i. EITI is a global standard for governance when it comes to a country’s oil, gas and mineral resources, and is implemented by governments in collaboration with companies and civil society. Countries implementing EITI disclose information on tax payments, licenses, contracts, production and other key elements around resource extraction.
Trinh Le Nguyen, director of PanNature, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting natural diversity and improving human well-being, said significant shortcomings remain prevalent in the evaluation of the environmental impact of business operations in Vietnam. Several steps in the assessment process were conducted with subpar methods while opinions from local residents were ignored, Nguyen continued. He noted that the two mandatory phases in evaluating a facility’s impact on the environment include a general and a more detailed assessment.
Intensifying the protection of forests in the Central Highlands from encroachment by hydro power plants, illegal deforestation and unplanned agricultural development would be the key to preserving water in this drought hit region, experts have said.
Along with the El Nino, projects in the Mekong River’s upstream, including hydropower plants, water-diverting and water-use works, are likely to pose serious impacts to the Mekong Delta, heard a conference held by the People and Nature Reconciliation in Hanoi on July 20.
During the morning of Friday, June 10, PanNature staff met with three government officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including U.S. EPA General Counsel, Avi Garbow; Senior Attorney in the Office of General Counsel, Steve Wolfson; as well as Director of the Office of Regional and Bilateral Affairs, Mark Kasman. The U.S. EPA is the lead government agency in protecting public health and the environment in the United States. The meeting was an opportunity for the U.S. EPA officials to gain the perspectives and insights of a local environmental non-governmental organization in Vietnam. Trinh Le Nguyen, Executive Director of PanNature, provided information about PanNature, its various projects around the country, its funding, as well as relationships with PanNature’s partners, including the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
No legal document specifying which technologies can or cannot not be imported to Vietnam exists. This ambiguity has hindered Vietnam from ‘filtering’ projects that could cause pollution.