China-Backed Hydropower Project Could Disturb a Sensitive Siberian Ecosystem
from Rivers without BoundariesLake Baikal contains 20 percent of the world’s freshwater resources and affects the regional climate of North Asia and the Arctic Basin. The lake is home to 2,500 aquatic species and local communities in Mongolia and Russia revere the lake as the...
China’s Last Wild River Carries Conflicting Environmental Hopes
With global temperatures rising, can China afford to protect its rivers and forgo an alternative to the coal-fired plants responsible for much of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions?
China’s Shift From Coal to Hydro Comes at a Heavy Price
from chinadialogueAs outlined in China’s national climate plan, submitted to the United Nations last month, the country’s aim to...
Nepal Earthquake Highlights Dangers of Dam-Building in Tibet
from chinadialogueAlthough the precise picture is still unclear, it’s likely that Nepal’s huge earthquake in April 2015 wreaked major damage...
South-North Water Transfer ‘Not Sustainable,’ Official Says
from chinadialogueThe $62 billion South-North Water Transfer Project would be rendered irrelevant if one-third of buildings in Beijing could collect more rainwater and recycle more wastewater, according to a Chinese ministerial official.
The remarks made...
Russia’s Siberian Dams Power “Electric Boilers” in Beijing
from chinadialogueThe underdeveloped, sparsely populated Eastern Siberia region that shares a 4,000-kilometer border with China has vast resources to offer its heavily populated and fast-developing neighbor. Hydroelectricity is key among them.
A major new...
Why Big Dams Don’t Work
from chinadialogueThe record of Africa’s large dams is one of widespread environmental destruction to the continent’s major river systems, upon which millions of people depend for their livelihoods; forcible resettlement and human rights abuses; corruption and...