Since the announcement of its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013, China has overtaken Russia to become the largest investor in Central Asian economies, attracted by the region’s mineral deposits and hydrocarbons, economic opportunities for Chinese products and the desire to ensure stability and security in its western Xinjiang region. Reflecting these motivations, Chinese investment has mainly been in infrastructure and extractive industries, which has brought an array of negative environmental impacts and social tensions to the region.It is …

Minister for Western Sydney Stuart Ayres accused these peaceful people of “eco-terrorism” (Eugene Simonov of RwB and Harry Burkitt of Colong Foundation touring Warragamba Dam )

Last Friday the RwB Coordinator Eugene Simonov was awake till 5 a.m. in Moscow taking part in dam investigation hearings half a world apart . Together with Mr.Sai Khur Hseng,  the Coordinator of Shan Sapawa Environmental Organization in Myanmar, he was standing witness to present evidence submitted by 20 environmental and indigenous NGOs around the world regarding the …

Vulnerable Kherlen River the victim of water diversion plans

Before 2000 there were no mines in
South Gobi apart from the state-run Tavan Tolgoi coal mine. But over the past
two decades, foreign investment has flooded in, with companies now operating 12
large mines, including Rio Tinto’s Oyu Tolgoi, one of the world’s biggest
copper and gold mines. Driven by the mining industry’s growing demands, the
government estimates that the region’s groundwater will run dry within a few
years.

Much of Mongolia’s water is in the
north, and the government now plans to pipe this water to the arid …

In October several dozen people died in landslides caused by small hydropower construction and this triggered Vietnam authorities to announce long-prepared decision to stop mass-development of small hydro. Similar, albeit less dramatic, decision has been made by China four years ago, where many hydropower plants have been demolished in last three years. The RwB Coalition is pleased to see that leading countries of Asia faced by difficult development choices still make rational and environmentally sound decisions on hydropower and expects other countries in Mekong River Basin to follow the suit. …

A year ago, on October 6, 2019, Golfrid Siregar, an Indonesian environmental lawyer died under suspicious circumstances. He was one of the key activists confronting the Batan-Toru Hydropower Dam built by Sinohydro in the only habitat of endemic Tapanuli Orangutan.

On
October 3, 2019, Golfrid Siregar was found beaten and abandoned on the side of
a road in Medan and died in hospital. The North Sumatran Police who handled the
case have concluded that the reason for his death was due to a single traffic
accident. Although police claim his death …

Sentinel satellite images from July 2 and September 15 show Ulz River before and during construction of the dam

Appeal to Director of UNESCO World Heritage Centre

Dear Ms. Rossler:

Using satellite imagery we established the fact that, in July 2020 Wellmot (Вэлмот) Company started construction of a dam across Ulz River in Dornod Province of Mongolia, the  principle source of water for “Landscapes of Dauria” World Heritage property. It was also reported by the official news agency Montsame[1].

To the best
of our knowledge, this construction started without prior warning of the
adjacent …