Laos: Rivers sliced for a hydropower frenzy

Laos' extensive network of dams has earned the country the nickname “the battery of Southeast Asia”. But the...

Energy

Nam Ou 1, the last dam downstream in the Nam Ou River Cascade Hydropower Project. Laos' extensive network of dams has earned the country the nickname “the battery of Southeast Asia”. But the hydropower rush is altering the Mekong basin's ecological balance.

Laos: Rivers sliced for a hydropower frenzy

Laos' extensive network of dams has earned the country the nickname “the battery of Southeast Asia”. But the hydropower rush is altering the Mekong basin's ecological balance.....
The temperature of water discharged by power plants is often higher than water bodies it was withdrawn from, causing thermal pollution. Electricity generation deoxygenates water by warming it. In 2023, EGCO Group withdrew 3.9 billion m³ of water from lakes, rivers, canals and the sea.

Thailand: Heat leakage from water-guzzling electricity

The temperature of water discharged by power plants is often higher than water bodies it was withdrawn from, causing thermal pollution. Electricity generation deoxygenates water by warming....
Ayman Abou Oussama, a muezzin at the Grand Mosque of Kuwait. Oil receipts account for 93% of government income in the West Asian petrostate.

Kuwait’s faith leaders back oil status quo

Amid Kuwait's reliance on oil revenues, religious figures invoke a “gift from God” to justify the moral acceptance of the climate-altering daily consumption of 100 million barrels....
Ayman Abou Oussama, a muezzin at the Grand Mosque of Kuwait. Oil receipts account for 93% of government income in the West Asian petrostate.

رجال الدين في الكويت يدعمون استمرار الوضع الراهن للنفط

في ظل اعتماد الكويت على عائدات النفط، يستحضر رجال دين عبارة "هبة من الله" لتبرير القبول الأخلاقي لاستهلاك يومي يبلغ 100 مليون برميل من النفط، وهو استهلاك....
Sri Lanka inherits the costs of fossil fuel systems to which it has contributed marginally. Its sea level rose more than six times faster in the early 2020s than the rate observed in the 1980s, and a containership spilled 70–75 billion plastic pellets into its waters.

Sri Lanka: Fossil fuel externalities along the shoreline

Sri Lanka inherits the costs of fossil fuel systems to which it has contributed marginally. While sea level rise accelerates, a ship spilled billion of plastic pellets....
Despite having one of the world's highest solar power potentials, Saudi Arabia still burns hundreds of millions of barrels of oil to generate electricity, making its power sector one of the most polluting globally.

Saudi Arabia: Burning oil for electricity

Despite having one of the world's highest solar power potentials, Saudi Arabia still burns hundreds of millions of barrels of oil to generate electricity, making its power....

Industry

Salt is a critical raw material in industrial processes, with about 14,000 uses identified. Yet, mixed with sea salt harvested in Southeast Asia are microplastics now present in seawater across the globe.

Thailand: The coast devoted to an “inexhaustible” resource

Salt is a critical raw material in industrial processes, with about 14,000 uses identified. Mixed with sea salt harvested in Thailand are microplastics now present in seawater....
Cargo ships routinely collide with marine mammals, killing an estimated 18,000 and 25,000 whales each year. The threat is exacerbated by ship noise and ocean acidification.

Indonesia: Marine mortality along shipping lanes

Cargo ships routinely collide with marine mammals, killing an estimated 18,000 and 25,000 whales each year. The threat is exacerbated by ship noise and ocean acidification.....
Ships spilled hundreds of tonnes of oil, coal and fertiliser into the world’s largest single patch of mangrove forest, while the industry routinely dump its wastewater into the ocean.

Bangladesh: Oil spills amid persistent bilge dumping

Ships spilled hundreds of tonnes of oil, coal and fertiliser into the world’s largest single patch of mangrove forest, while the industry routinely dump its wastewater into....
A worker at the construction site of Port City Colombo, a node in China’s global trade infrastructure network.

Sri Lanka: A node in China’s plastic export flows

Building on ancient trade routes, the Belt and Road Initiative supports China’s export flows of plastics and manufactured plastic goods, which are the world's largest.....
For each carton boxes and paper sheet produced from recovered material, another is still made from virgin pulp as paper-based products can be recycled only a finite number of times.

Qatar: Recycling fibres until they fail

For each carton boxes and paper sheet produced from recovered material, another is still made from virgin pulp as paper-based products can be recycled only a finite....
Ship paint incorporate chemical additives that are gradually released into the water to limit marine organisms attaching to the hull. Merchant fleets are also a source of microplastic pollution.

Oman: The toxic trail of hull coatings

Ship paint incorporate chemical additives that are gradually released into the water to limit marine organisms attaching to the hull. Merchant fleets are also a source of....

Demography

Limited environmental literacy is a missed opportunity, leaving Bangladesh’s future adult population ill-equipped to grasp the environmental costs of their future consumption choices.

Bangladesh: Literacy success masks environmental gap

Limited environmental literacy is a missed opportunity, leaving Bangladesh’s future adult population ill-equipped to grasp the environmental costs of their future consumption choices.....
Vietnam's golden population period that started in 2007 is expected to end in the mid-2030s as the older population nearly doubles over the next two decades. The ongoing ageing of the population underscores the age–emissions relationship.

Vietnam: Footprint of a demographic transition

Vietnam's golden population period that started in 2007 is expected to end in the mid-2030s. The ongoing ageing of the population underscores the age–emissions relationship.....
One of Asia's most densely populated countries risks losing part of its territory to rising sea levels and coastal erosion by the mid-21st century, mainly along its low-lying southern coastline.

Bangladesh: Over 200 million on a shrinking land

One of Asia's most densely populated countries risks losing part of its territory to rising sea levels and coastal erosion by the mid-21st century, mainly along its....
The quadrupling of Indonesia's population since the mid-20th century has produced a large consumer class embedded in lifestyles that demand land, energy, and materials.

Indonesia: Demographic boom, and consumed ecosystems

The quadrupling of Indonesia's population since the mid-20th century has produced a large consumer class embedded in lifestyles that demand land, energy, and materials.....

Habitat

The rivers at the origins of Kuala Lumpur’s early rise as a Chinese tin mining settlement in 1857 now flow through a city that no longer depends on them, revealing a rising human-nature disconnect.

Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur’s marginalised founding rivers

The rivers at the origins of Kuala Lumpur’s early rise now flow through a city that no longer depends on them, revealing a rising human-nature disconnect.....
Artificial cooling remains the dominant means of regulating indoor temperatures in Singapore, despite decades of urban greening efforts to incorporate vegetation into its urban fabric.

Singapore: Cooling the tropical Garden City

Artificial cooling remains the dominant means of regulating indoor temperatures in Singapore, despite decades of urban greening efforts to incorporate vegetation into its urban fabric.....
In Singapore, the past competes with the present for the same finite land. In seeking equilibrium between natural ecosystems and human infrastructure, one of the world’s most densely populated countries introduced a regulation to limit the burial period to 15 years.

Singapore: The land use dilemma

In seeking equilibrium between natural ecosystems and human infrastructure, one of the world’s most densely populated countries introduced a regulation limiting the burial period to 15 years.....
In the district where coastal villages most affected by Nusantanra are located, the number of people engaged in fishing, nearly halved between 2020 and 2024.

Land monetisation rush pits fishermen against crocodiles

The Indonesian government’s assault on the world’s third largest tropical rainforest to serve industrial interests divides populations and biodiversity, echoing colonial-era patterns. Locally revered as ancestors, crocodiles....

In the district where coastal villages most affected by Nusantanra are located, the number of people engaged in fishing, nearly halved between 2020 and 2024.

Perebutan lahan picu konflik nelayan dan buaya

Pemerintah Indonesia mengeksploitasi hutan hujan tropis terbesar ketiga di dunia demi kepentingan industri. Langkah ini memecah belah masyarakat dan mengancam keanekaragaman hayati. Kebijakan tersebut mengulang pola yang....

The brick industry has underpinned India’s urban expansion at the expense of agricultural topsoil and crop yield. It is also a major source of air pollution across South Asia.

India: Houses built on coal, degraded farmland

The brick industry has underpinned India’s urban expansion at the expense of agricultural topsoil and crop yield. It is also a major source of air pollution across....

Food

The United States' war against communism in Southeast Asia have left unexploded munitions in Laos and chemical contamination in Vietnam long after the withdrawal of American troops. Unexploded munitions can restrict access to land, reduce crop production and cause food insecurity.

Laos: Farmland scarred by United States’ endless war

The United States' war against communism in Southeast Asia have left unexploded munitions in Laos and chemical contamination in Vietnam long after the withdrawal of American troops.....
Lift nets have “thrived in harmony” with Songkhla Lake's ecosystem, while industrial-scale harvesting of marine resources in the Gulf of Thailand have come at a long-term cost.

Thailand: Traditional fishing in balance

Lift nets have “thrived in harmony” with Songkhla Lake's ecosystem, while industrial-scale harvesting of marine resources in the Gulf of Thailand have come at a long-term cost.....
Southeast Asia's largest flow of annual rainfall feeds 2,900 river basins, many of them polluted by nitrogen compounds, such as fertiliser residues traceable to the palm oil industry.

Malaysia: Oil palm fertiliser leakage

Southeast Asia's largest flow of annual rainfall feeds 2,900 river basins, many of them polluted by nitrogen compounds, such as fertiliser residues traceable to the palm oil....
As it promotes higher fish consumption, Indonesia reauthorised bottom trawling. The method ravages seabed ecosystems, often described as the "ultimate long-term carbon store".

Indonesia: Back-and-forth over trawling

As it promotes higher fish consumption, Indonesia reauthorised bottom trawling. The method ravages seabed ecosystems, often described as the "ultimate long-term carbon store".....
The average size of farmland in Nepal more than halved over six decades. Low-input smallholder farms, often deemed unproductive, are associated with several environmental benefits that chemical-intensive agriculture leaves outside its productivity metrics.

Nepal: Farming on half a hectare

Low-input smallholder farms, often deemed unproductive, are associated with several environmental benefits that chemical-intensive agriculture leaves outside its productivity metrics.....
Rice farming households have been courted by the Shinawatra political dynasty, whose battles with the conservative establishment have diverted attention from the heavy reliance on chemical inputs.

Thailand: Political squabbles mask rice export costs

Rice farming households have been courted by the Shinawatra political dynasty, whose battles with the conservative establishment have diverted attention from the heavy reliance on chemical inputs.....

Consumerism

Shopping mall operator Majid Al Futtaim launched the Middle East’s largest indoor snow park in Muscat in 2023.

0°C playgrounds in a warming desert

Ice-skating rinks and snow parks that dot the Arabian Peninsula transcend the environmental limits of one of the hottest climates on Earth. Yet, subfreezing leisure is water-intensive.....
Shopping mall operator Majid Al Futtaim launched the Middle East’s largest indoor snow park in Muscat in 2023.

ملاعب بدرجة الصفر المئوي في قلب صحراء تشتد حرارةً 

تتجاوز حلبات التزلج على الجليد ومنتزهات الثلج المنتشرة في شبه الجزيرة العربية الحدود البيئية لأحد أكثر المناخات حرارة على وجه الأرض. ومع ذلك، فإن أنشطة الترفيه دون....
A generation of Kuwaiti artists inspired by the radical transformation of lifestyles that followed oil discoveries forged a bridge between younger generations and ancient nature-bound lifestyles.

Painting what fossil fuels swept away

A generation of Kuwaiti artists, inspired by the radical transformation of lifestyles that followed oil discoveries, forged a bridge between younger generations and traditional nature-bound lifestyles.....
A generation of Kuwaiti artists inspired by the radical transformation of lifestyles that followed oil discoveries forged a bridge between younger generations and ancient nature-bound lifestyles.

رسم ما جرفه الوقود الأحفوري

جيل من الفنانين الكويتيين، استلهم أعماله من التحول الجذري في أنماط الحياة الذي تبع اكتشافات النفط، أقام جسرًا بين الأجيال الشابة وأنماط الحياة التقليدية المرتبطة بالطبيعة.....
Beneath the language of heritage and artisanship, the purchase of luxury goods is a material expression of the outsized environmental footprint of affluent consumers. Asia accounted for nearly four in ten luxury goods sold globally in the early 2020s.

Singapore: The imprint of luxury consumption

Beneath the language of heritage and artisanship, the purchase of luxury goods is a material expression of the outsized environmental footprint of affluent consumers.....
In the pre-synthetic fibres era, clothes were intended to last. With the rise of fast fashion, a third of Singaporeans acknowledged having thrown away a garment after wearing it just once. Singaporeans buy 34 pieces of new clothes per year, while discarding 27.

Singapore: When Peranakan craft met Mickey Mouse

In the pre-synthetic fibres era, clothes were intended to last. With the rise of fast fashion, a third of Singaporeans acknowledged having thrown away a garment after....

Mobility

The Laos-China Railway offers an alternative to fossil-fuel-powered freight transport along the trade corridor linking China’s industrial output to Southeast Asian markets.

Laos: Rewiring the China-Southeast Asia corridor

The Laos-China Railway offers an alternative to fossil-fuel-powered freight transport along the trade corridor linking China’s industrial output to Southeast Asian markets.....
The Saen Saep boat service ferried 11 million passengers annually in the mid-2020s. Yet, water transport, once a dominant mobility option in Bangkok, now accounts for only a tiny fraction of over nine billion trips recorded each year in the city.

Thailand: Dimming canal commute caught in crosscurrents

Water transport, once a dominant mobility option in Bangkok, now accounts for only a tiny fraction of over nine billion trips recorded each year in the city.....
“It was my first time taking a bus in Kuwait. Until today, I was afraid of buses. In my mind it was scary, the lighting was dim, there was no air conditioning, it was not clean,” said Raghad AlEnezi.

Riding past the bus stigma

Car-centric urban planning has confined public transportation to the margins of mobility in Kuwait, where an initiative promotes bus use, despite poor first and last-mile connectivity.....
“It was my first time taking a bus in Kuwait. Until today, I was afraid of buses. In my mind it was scary, the lighting was dim, there was no air conditioning, it was not clean,” said Raghad AlEnezi.

ركوب الحافلة وتجاوز وصمتها

تمحور التخطيط العمراني في الكويت حول السيارة مما ساهم في تهميش القطاع العام للنقل ، حيث تروّج مبادرة لاستخدام الحافلات، على الرغم من ضعف الترابط بين نقاط....
Flows of Muslim pilgrims during Bishwa Ijtema mask a structural decline in the role ​rail plays in passenger mobility across Bangladesh, as road-based transport has taken over.

Bangladesh: Rail under rising demographic load

Flows of Muslim pilgrims during Bishwa Ijtema mask a structural decline in the role ​rail plays in passenger mobility across Bangladesh, as road-based transport has taken over.....
First through trade, and now through tourism, Penang has been embedded in global maritime circulation for centuries. But flows that sustain its economy pollute its marine ecosystems.

Malaysia: Maritime mobility and its residues

First through trade, and now through tourism, Penang has been embedded in global maritime circulation for centuries. But flows that sustain its economy pollute its marine ecosystems.....