Mekong River Mekong Delta's Saltwater Intrusion Hits a Decade High as Vietnam Presses China and Laos on Dam Releases Record saltwater intrusion in Vietnam's Mekong Delta has cut irrigation to tens of thousands of hectares of rice, pushing Hanoi to request emergency releases from upstream dams in China and Laos.
Philippines Philippines Cuts Renewable Permitting Time to 30 Days, Unlocking 18 GW of Stalled Projects The Philippines' Department of Energy has compressed renewable-project permitting from an average of two years to 30 days under its Green Lane initiative, clearing a backlog of 18 GW in solar, wind and storage applications.
Solar Energy Grid Bottlenecks Force Solar Curtailment Across Southeast Asia Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand are curtailing utility-scale solar output as transmission capacity fails to keep pace with new installations, pushing operators toward battery mandates and cross-border interconnection.
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia's August Floods Test Insurers' $10 Billion Risk Warning Flooding in the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand in early August 2026 arrives as insurers warn that a single Southeast Asia flood event could now cause losses exceeding $10 billion.
mangrove restoration Asia's Coastal Cities Turn to Mangroves as a Cheaper Alternative to Seawalls Coastal cities from the Mekong Delta to the Philippines are expanding mangrove replanting as a cheaper, nature-based alternative to concrete seawalls.
sustainability Southeast Asia Reactivates Cross-Border Haze Monitoring as Dry Season Fire Risk Rises Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have reactivated joint haze-monitoring channels and peatland fire-prevention measures ahead of a forecast dry stretch over Sumatra and Borneo.
Plastic Waste Southeast Asia Tightens Plastic Waste Import Rules as Regional River-Cleanup Treaty Advances Four Southeast Asian governments moved this month to restrict imports of foreign plastic scrap, while negotiators advanced a separate regional pact to fund cleanup of the rivers that carry most of the world's ocean plastic. The twin developments mark the region's sharpest policy turn yet on
Mangroves Asia's Mangrove Forests: What Decades of Clearing Cost and What Recovery Actually Looks Like Asia has lost more than a third of its mangrove cover since the 1970s. What caused the clearing, what the ecological cost has been, and where restoration is producing durable results.
Thailand Thailand Approves $9.2 Billion Floating Solar Scheme Across Nine Reservoirs Thailand's National Energy Policy Council approved a 9.2 billion dollar, 4.8 gigawatt floating solar programme across nine reservoirs on May 19, 2026.
Coral Bleaching Coral Bleaching Alert Issued for 80% of Southeast Asian Reefs NOAA issues Level 2 coral bleaching alerts across 80% of Southeast Asian reefs as sea temperatures exceed bleaching thresholds for the second year running.
Heatwave Heatwave Across Southeast Asia Breaks Temperature Records in Five Countries An extreme heatwave breaks all-time records in Thailand, Philippines, Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia, causing over 600 deaths and $1.8 billion in crop losses.
Wildlife Trafficking Pangolin Trafficking Ring Dismantled Across Five Southeast Asian Countries INTERPOL seizes 28 tons of pangolin scales and arrests 147 suspects across five Southeast Asian countries in the largest anti-pangolin-trafficking operation.
Water Crisis Mekong River Basin Faces Worst Drought in 60 Years The Mekong River drops to record lows, threatening 65 million people across Southeast Asia with the worst drought since 1965.
