Search Climate Insights Directory

This research paper examines how transboundary hydropower development on the Mekong River creates injustices that affect the mobility and immobility of downstream communities in Northeast Thailand, using Nancy Fraser's three-dimensional justice framework to analyze economic, cultural, and political drivers.

This briefing by the Stockholm Environment Institute explores the concept of water teleconnections—long-distance interactions between coupled natural and human systems—and argues that relying on a single water management narrative can lead to a misunderstanding of local challenges and the invisibility of water transfers through economic and physical connections.

The 'Agua Sin Límites' (Water Without Limits) initiative by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) proposes a new agenda for sustainable water management. It aims to address the limitations of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) by focusing on tele-connections beyond the basin, multi-scale participatory approaches to address social inequalities, and the early integration of ecosystem needs into planning.

The 2019 five-year assessment of the New York Declaration on Forests (NYDF) concludes that the 2020 goals to halve tropical deforestation and restore 150 million hectares of land are likely impossible to achieve. Despite some progress in Indonesia and specific sectoral moratoria, tropical primary forest loss has increased, and global deforestation remains unsustainable, driven largely by agricultural commodities. Restoration efforts have largely occurred outside natural forests, and corporate commitments have stagnated. The report highlights a critical lack of financial investment compared to other climate goals and emphasizes that the reversal of environmental policies in Brazil and the failure to secure indigenous land rights further undermine forest conservation.

This research paper describes a study using a calibrated SWAT model to simulate baseline river flows and assess future climate change impacts across 11 sub-basins of the Tonle Sap Lake Basin in Cambodia.

Friends of the Earth Asia Pacific (FoE APac) expresses concern that the South Korean government is promoting the 'Four Rivers Project' model for a similar water management contract in Thailand, despite the project's ecological damage and the suppression of critical civil society voices in Korea.

This report examines the tension between trade liberalization and environmental sustainability in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), highlighting how infrastructure development and illegal trade undermine ecological protections and proposing regional coordination mechanisms to address wildlife trafficking and climate change.

This report details an interdisciplinary Environmental Flows (E-Flows) assessment of the Nam Songkhram River Basin in Northeast Thailand. The study examines the critical relationship between the Mekong River mainstream and the Nam Songkhram floodplain, emphasizing how the annual 'flood pulse' sustains high aquatic biodiversity and local livelihoods. The findings highlight a transition from natural wetland habitats to simplified ecosystems dominated by agricultural land and industrial tree plantations, specifically eucalyptus. The report argues that upstream flood control infrastructure is largely futile due to the dominance of the Mekong's hydrology and recommends a holistic, multi-stakeholder approach to basin management to prevent further ecological collapse.