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The Thirsty Dragon: China’s Belt and Road Initiative Suffers a Double-Blow from Hydropower Agreements
November 29th, 2017
Via Future Directions International, a report on the rejection of two Chinese hydropower projects in Asia: In May 2017, a number of memoranda of understanding were signed between China and Pakistan to construct several hydropower projects along the Indus River. The projects, known as the North Indus Cascade, include the development of five hydropower projects […]
Read more »The Amazon Effect: How Deforestation Is Starving São Paulo of Water
November 29th, 2017
Courtesy of The Guardian, a look at how deforestation is starving São Paulo of water: São Paulo could face more devastating water shortages if farmers continue to clear the Amazon forest, warns the utility chief who recently steered the biggest city in the Americas from the edge of drought catastrophe.Jerson Kelman, president of water company […]
Read more »Climate Change and Water Woes Drove ISIS Recruiting in Iraq
November 24th, 2017
Via National Geographic, a look at how desperate farmers – battered by scarce water and climate change – were driven into terror recruiters’ clutches: It was a few weeks after the rains failed in the winter of 2009 that residents of Shirqat first noticed the strange bearded men. Circling like vultures among the stalls of […]
Read more »Damming or Damning the Amazon: Assessing Ecuador / China Cooperation
November 24th, 2017
Via Mongabay, an article on Ecuador’s partnership with China and what it may mean for rivers in the Amazon: In 2008, Ecuador, led by President Rafael Correa, approved a new constitution based upon Buen Vivr (the ”Good Life”), committing the nation to indigenous rights, environmental sustainability and state sovereignty. However, Correa quickly aligned the nation […]
Read more »Central Asian States Lose $4.5B Yearly Due To Water Crisis
November 24th, 2017
Via Azerbaijan’s Trend magazine, a report on the economic impact of water scarcity and lack of cooperation therein in Central Asia: Economic losses from the lack of water cooperation in the Central Asian region reaches $ 4.5 billion annually, said Iskandar Abdullayev, Executive Director of the Regional Environmental Center for Central Asia (CAREC). “Water cooperation […]
Read more »Iran: Absence of Water Diplomacy Leads to Ecological Disasters
November 24th, 2017
Via Iran’s Financial Tribune, an article on how some in Iran feel that the nation will face the consequences of the international water crisis in the next 10 years, if it fails to find solutions with the aid of diplomacy today: Many environmental challenges such as drought and dust storms are the outcomes of ineffective […]
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