By
Dene-Hern
Chen - July 25, 2013
Cambodia’s manufacturing and tourism sectors will face
adverse effects from climate change due to the country’s
focus on hydropower, according to a report produced jointly
by British and Cambodian think tanks.
Speaking Wednesday in Phnom Penh, researchers from
U.K.-based Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and the
Cambodia Development Research Institute said that high
energy prices already negatively affect Cambodia’s
manufacturing and tourism and prices are not likely to drop
as the country increases its reliance on hydropower, which
will eventually be affected by climate change.
“There is not much in the [government’s energy plan] that
acknowledges climate change…. Water scarcity is not dealt
with in great depth,” said Alberto Lemma, an ODI researcher,
adding that Cambodia needs to diversify its energy
resources beyond hydropower.
From original source
Friday, July 26, 2013
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Rapid Pursuit of GDP Growth in Lower Mekong Region Threatens Environment
June 26, 2013
By Lisa Hook,
By Lisa Hook,
Next week, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will join leaders
from the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) partner countries – Cambodia,
Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam – for the sixth LMI Ministerial
Meeting in Brunei, Darussalam. The meeting will be held on the margins
of the ASEAN Regional Forum Ministerial Meeting, with the theme “Our People, Our Future Together,” stressing the importance for the people of ASEAN to work together for the development of the region.
The LMI was created in 2009 by then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and foreign ministers from the partner countries to enhance cooperation among the Lower Mekong countries in the areas of environment, health, education, and infrastructure development. Much is at stake: communities in the region are experiencing great changes from fast-paced economic growth averaging five to seven percent annually. While recent growth has reduced poverty and supported progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals, the rapid pursuit of GDP growth, urbanization, infrastructure development, raw materials, and energy sources also jeopardizes the region’s natural resource base, food security, and livelihoods. Coordinated efforts will be necessary to ensure that equitable and sustainable development benefits all 60 million people in the region.
The Lower Mekong region is bound by the Mekong River, whose source originates in China and empties into the South China Sea in Vietnam. The river is the seventh largest in the world, covering an area of 1.9 million square kilometers. The region is rich in natural resources including fisheries, forests, biodiversity, and minerals. Throughout my career in international development, I’ve had the opportunity to observe the river at different locations and times, always impressed by its vital role as a source of livelihood that communities and ecosystems depend on deeply. But recent fast-paced developments, un-balanced by the voices and perspectives of the very people whose lives depend on it, are threatening this system.
Encounters with the Mekong
My first glimpse of the Mekong River was when I was traveling in 2007 in Yunnan Province, China, where the river there is known as the Lancang River. I was distinctly aware of its direct source: cold melt water from the Himalayan Glaciers of the Tibetan Plateau, a few thousand miles to the north, having recently traveled there. Climate change, however, is projected to decrease China’s glacial coverage by 27 percent by 2050, which would significantly diminish water availability for communities throughout the Mekong region.
My next encounter with the Mekong River was in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in 2010, where the river flows through the capital city, and during the rainy season, reverses course to flow into Tonle Sap Lake, via a tributary of the same name, a unique phenomenon that is critical for supporting the rich ecosystem, including rare plant, bird, and fish species. Roughly 75 percent of people in the region rely on agriculture and fisheries for their livelihoods, and freshwater fish from the Mekong River and its tributaries, including Tonle Sap, which is Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake, provide 47 to 80 percent of their animal protein.
Development in the Region
However, regional development projects threaten the food security for these dependent communities who make up the majority of the region’s population. Over the past several years, a shift in the financing of development projects in the region has been occurring, from traditional development assistance from multilateral development banks such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), to more regionally-based sources, including the private sector, banks, and national governments. These regional investments, which include projects like dams, pipelines, and railroads, in many cases do not have concrete safeguards against negative social and environmental impacts. They also have significant implications for neighboring countries, which requires broader ecosystem, participatory, and basin-wide approaches to development.
My third glimpse of the Mekong River was in the Lao capital of Vientiane in 2011, also the home of the Mekong River Commission (MRC), the regional body consisting of four Lower Mekong country members (Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam) to coordinate information on development projects that have regional implications, including dam construction. Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, and Malaysian companies are currently financing 11 dams planned for construction along the mainstream Mekong – nine in Laos and two in Cambodia. The Social and Environmental Assessment (SEA) conducted on these dams for the MRC concluded that their cumulative impact would significantly alter downstream flows and water levels, block fish migration, decimate economically crucial and endangered species, trap silt needed to sustain rice production, and impact the livelihoods of millions of people in the region. The Xayaburi Dam in particular, which is planned for construction in Laos on the mainstream Mekong, has been controversial for its potential impacts to ecosystem dynamics and local livelihoods. However, the dam is set for development, despite opposition and concerns by the Cambodian and Vietnamese governments, civil society, and environmental groups.
Public Participation is Needed
Meaningful public engagement and participation on these regional development projects is limited, and access to information by the communities varies, as do the direct impacts that the projects have across the region. In Cambodia, civil society can access some environmental information, but often lack the technical capacity to provide meaningful input. While organizations monitor and advocate upwards, there is little time spent on disseminating information widely and educating the general public. In Laos, non-profit associations were granted defined legal status quite recently, in 2009, and their capacity is still limited. Similarly in Myanmar, recent reform measures created opportunities for increased civil society engagement, but basic capacity-building is needed. While Thailand’s 2007 Constitution requires public participation on natural resource protection, the public is often unaware of important environmental information, and elevating issues to the national level is a challenge. In Vietnam, there are existing laws and regulations aimed at protecting the environment, but their implementation and enforcement is problematic. Interaction between civil society and the government is growing but still very limited, and much remains to be done to broaden the space for public participation that can lead to more sustainable and equitable outcomes.
Civil society in the region is beginning to coordinate through networks and coalition groups on issues of mutual interest in response to the regional impacts of large-scale projects. To date, however, civil society initiatives have not been able to significantly influence regional development project decisions. Their efforts currently have little chance of success when they challenge governments and powerful economic and financial stakeholders with vested interests in seeing projects implemented as quickly as possible.
At the same time, regional bodies, such as the ADB, MRC, ASEAN, and the LMI, coordinate efforts on shared regional interests including economic integration, development in the Mekong River Basin, trade, environment, health, education, and infrastructure, and have made concerted attempts to engage the public on development projects. But in practice these bodies have not yet been effective in engaging local communities, and regional multi-stakeholder engagement has yet to ensure non-state actors can influence regional development decisions. Let’s hope leaders at Monday’s ministerial meeting bring citizens’ voices and concerns to the table.
Original text
The
Mekong River is the seventh largest in the world, covering an area of
1.9 million square kilometers. The region is rich in natural resources
including fisheries, forests, biodiversity, and minerals. Photo/Bart
Verweij
The LMI was created in 2009 by then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and foreign ministers from the partner countries to enhance cooperation among the Lower Mekong countries in the areas of environment, health, education, and infrastructure development. Much is at stake: communities in the region are experiencing great changes from fast-paced economic growth averaging five to seven percent annually. While recent growth has reduced poverty and supported progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals, the rapid pursuit of GDP growth, urbanization, infrastructure development, raw materials, and energy sources also jeopardizes the region’s natural resource base, food security, and livelihoods. Coordinated efforts will be necessary to ensure that equitable and sustainable development benefits all 60 million people in the region.
The Lower Mekong region is bound by the Mekong River, whose source originates in China and empties into the South China Sea in Vietnam. The river is the seventh largest in the world, covering an area of 1.9 million square kilometers. The region is rich in natural resources including fisheries, forests, biodiversity, and minerals. Throughout my career in international development, I’ve had the opportunity to observe the river at different locations and times, always impressed by its vital role as a source of livelihood that communities and ecosystems depend on deeply. But recent fast-paced developments, un-balanced by the voices and perspectives of the very people whose lives depend on it, are threatening this system.
Encounters with the Mekong
My first glimpse of the Mekong River was when I was traveling in 2007 in Yunnan Province, China, where the river there is known as the Lancang River. I was distinctly aware of its direct source: cold melt water from the Himalayan Glaciers of the Tibetan Plateau, a few thousand miles to the north, having recently traveled there. Climate change, however, is projected to decrease China’s glacial coverage by 27 percent by 2050, which would significantly diminish water availability for communities throughout the Mekong region.
My next encounter with the Mekong River was in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in 2010, where the river flows through the capital city, and during the rainy season, reverses course to flow into Tonle Sap Lake, via a tributary of the same name, a unique phenomenon that is critical for supporting the rich ecosystem, including rare plant, bird, and fish species. Roughly 75 percent of people in the region rely on agriculture and fisheries for their livelihoods, and freshwater fish from the Mekong River and its tributaries, including Tonle Sap, which is Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake, provide 47 to 80 percent of their animal protein.
Development in the Region
However, regional development projects threaten the food security for these dependent communities who make up the majority of the region’s population. Over the past several years, a shift in the financing of development projects in the region has been occurring, from traditional development assistance from multilateral development banks such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), to more regionally-based sources, including the private sector, banks, and national governments. These regional investments, which include projects like dams, pipelines, and railroads, in many cases do not have concrete safeguards against negative social and environmental impacts. They also have significant implications for neighboring countries, which requires broader ecosystem, participatory, and basin-wide approaches to development.
While
recent growth has reduced poverty in the Lower Mekong Region, the rapid
pursuit of GDP growth also jeopardizes the region’s natural resource
base, food security, and livelihoods. Photo/Marco Ryan
My third glimpse of the Mekong River was in the Lao capital of Vientiane in 2011, also the home of the Mekong River Commission (MRC), the regional body consisting of four Lower Mekong country members (Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam) to coordinate information on development projects that have regional implications, including dam construction. Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, and Malaysian companies are currently financing 11 dams planned for construction along the mainstream Mekong – nine in Laos and two in Cambodia. The Social and Environmental Assessment (SEA) conducted on these dams for the MRC concluded that their cumulative impact would significantly alter downstream flows and water levels, block fish migration, decimate economically crucial and endangered species, trap silt needed to sustain rice production, and impact the livelihoods of millions of people in the region. The Xayaburi Dam in particular, which is planned for construction in Laos on the mainstream Mekong, has been controversial for its potential impacts to ecosystem dynamics and local livelihoods. However, the dam is set for development, despite opposition and concerns by the Cambodian and Vietnamese governments, civil society, and environmental groups.
Public Participation is Needed
Meaningful public engagement and participation on these regional development projects is limited, and access to information by the communities varies, as do the direct impacts that the projects have across the region. In Cambodia, civil society can access some environmental information, but often lack the technical capacity to provide meaningful input. While organizations monitor and advocate upwards, there is little time spent on disseminating information widely and educating the general public. In Laos, non-profit associations were granted defined legal status quite recently, in 2009, and their capacity is still limited. Similarly in Myanmar, recent reform measures created opportunities for increased civil society engagement, but basic capacity-building is needed. While Thailand’s 2007 Constitution requires public participation on natural resource protection, the public is often unaware of important environmental information, and elevating issues to the national level is a challenge. In Vietnam, there are existing laws and regulations aimed at protecting the environment, but their implementation and enforcement is problematic. Interaction between civil society and the government is growing but still very limited, and much remains to be done to broaden the space for public participation that can lead to more sustainable and equitable outcomes.
Civil society in the region is beginning to coordinate through networks and coalition groups on issues of mutual interest in response to the regional impacts of large-scale projects. To date, however, civil society initiatives have not been able to significantly influence regional development project decisions. Their efforts currently have little chance of success when they challenge governments and powerful economic and financial stakeholders with vested interests in seeing projects implemented as quickly as possible.
At the same time, regional bodies, such as the ADB, MRC, ASEAN, and the LMI, coordinate efforts on shared regional interests including economic integration, development in the Mekong River Basin, trade, environment, health, education, and infrastructure, and have made concerted attempts to engage the public on development projects. But in practice these bodies have not yet been effective in engaging local communities, and regional multi-stakeholder engagement has yet to ensure non-state actors can influence regional development decisions. Let’s hope leaders at Monday’s ministerial meeting bring citizens’ voices and concerns to the table.
Original text
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Rice husk to power agriculture
Mon, 15 July 2013, Rann Reuy, Phnom Penh Post
Cambodia-based SOMA Energy will construct two bio-mass power-generating plants that convert rice husks into electricity to supply Cambodian farmers working in the provinces.
SOMA energy, a subsidiary of SOMA group, has invested nearly $3 million in the construction of the plants, one of which is located in Bati district in Takeo province. The other is in Kampong Thom province’s Stoung district.
“All the investment is from SOMA at this stage,” said, Vong Sam Ang, general manager of SOMA Consulting Service, adding that if successful, they would look to expand and seek other investors to partner with.
Each generator has capacity to produce up to 750 kilowatts per hour, Sam Ang said.
“Our main purpose is to use the rice husk to produce electricity in order to supply people in remote areas,” he said.
SOMA said that the rice husk bio-mass plants will be operational sometime early next year.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Cambodia: Call for More Investment in Infrastructure
By Simon Lewis - July 5, 2013, Cambodia Daily
As much as $16 billion of investment is needed in Cambodia over the next decade if the country’s infrastructure is to keep up with the pace of economic growth, according to a regional think tank.
At a seminar in Phnom Penh on Thuesday, Jakarta-based Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia (ERIA) presented research showing that between 1990 and 2011, 30 public-private partnerships—including power plants, hydropower dams, airport concessions and a rail rehabilitation plan—were approved in Cambodia, with a large increase after 2006.
However, even though energy projects accounted for 70 percent of the approvals’ total value, the research pointed out that Cambodia still lagged its neighbors in providing electricity, with only 24 percent of Cambodians having access to the national power grid.
A report presented by Nik Nasir Majidan, an independent consultant for ERIA, said that from 2013 to 2022, Cambodia would need between $12 billion and $16 billion in infrastructure investment to keep up with growth in the economy. To do this, the report said the government needed to spend more on making public-private partnerships.
But the report also noted the government was limited by its “fiscal space” and that its revenue was currently only 13 percent of gross domestic product, which was low by regional standards.
For now, only power projects, mostly hydropower dams, get government help in the form of financial guarantees.
Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh, opening the seminar, agreed infrastructure development was lagging economic growth, which according to government figures was 7.3 percent last year.
“Despite the Royal Government of Cambodia’s efforts to build infrastructure, the country’s fast economic growth needs more infrastructure,” Mr. Prasidh said.
Read more.....
As much as $16 billion of investment is needed in Cambodia over the next decade if the country’s infrastructure is to keep up with the pace of economic growth, according to a regional think tank.
At a seminar in Phnom Penh on Thuesday, Jakarta-based Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia (ERIA) presented research showing that between 1990 and 2011, 30 public-private partnerships—including power plants, hydropower dams, airport concessions and a rail rehabilitation plan—were approved in Cambodia, with a large increase after 2006.
However, even though energy projects accounted for 70 percent of the approvals’ total value, the research pointed out that Cambodia still lagged its neighbors in providing electricity, with only 24 percent of Cambodians having access to the national power grid.
A report presented by Nik Nasir Majidan, an independent consultant for ERIA, said that from 2013 to 2022, Cambodia would need between $12 billion and $16 billion in infrastructure investment to keep up with growth in the economy. To do this, the report said the government needed to spend more on making public-private partnerships.
But the report also noted the government was limited by its “fiscal space” and that its revenue was currently only 13 percent of gross domestic product, which was low by regional standards.
For now, only power projects, mostly hydropower dams, get government help in the form of financial guarantees.
Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh, opening the seminar, agreed infrastructure development was lagging economic growth, which according to government figures was 7.3 percent last year.
“Despite the Royal Government of Cambodia’s efforts to build infrastructure, the country’s fast economic growth needs more infrastructure,” Mr. Prasidh said.
Read more.....
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