International: Asia

From China to Japan, extreme cold is gripping East Asia. Experts say it’s the ‘new norm’

26 Jan 2023

Tens of millions of people across East Asia braved a severe cold snap Wednesday as subzero temperatures and heavy snow brought travel chaos during the Lunar New Year holiday, with climate experts warning that such extreme weather events had become the “new norm.”

Pakistan’s climate migrants face tough odds

22 Dec 2022

When floodwaters submerged their farm in 2011, Kashif Abro and his family sought refuge in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, around 250 miles away.

Indonesia’s renewed climate targets still critically insufficient: research group

21 Dec 2022

Indonesia’s climate targets are “critically insufficient,” a global climate research consortium has said, despite the country’s renewed emission target.

Climate action delivers air quality & health gains in India

20 Dec 2022

New research shows how city actions to address climate change in India can deliver health benefits from cleaner air.

Facing headwinds at home, Europe and Japan are pushing waste-to-energy technology across South East Asia

20 Dec 2022

For decades, waste-to-energy has been a key waste management tool in developed countries. Now, they are looking to developing markets. There are dozens of waste-to-energy incineration plants planned or under construction across South East Asia using Japanese and European technology and framed as clean or renewable.

Tokyo's solar panel mandate a major shift in a country where fossil fuels reign

19 Dec 2022

Chisan chishō — meaning locally grown, locally consumed — is a phrase traditionally associated with agricultural products. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government, however, is now trying to do the same for the city’s energy sources.

How Bhutan could provide the blueprint for climate-smart forest economies

16 Dec 2022

Sandwiched between Tibet and India in Southern Asia, the Kingdom of Bhutan is a rapidly developing country with a fast-growing population that is creating an increasing demand for urban housing.

EV charging facility owners in Hong Kong can soon make money by selling carbon credits

13 Dec 2022

Hong Kong owners of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure will soon be able to earn revenue by selling carbon credits generated by their facilities through the city’s bourse, according to a local provider of charging equipment and software.

Developed countries not sincere about climate justice, says India's foreign minister

13 Dec 2022

Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has criticised developed countries for backtracking on promises to help nations vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

Egypt’s Great Pyramids and the Sphinx could be lost to climate change: experts

8 Dec 2022

Egypt’s world-famous antiquities, including the Sphinx and the Great Pyramids of Giza, could be lost to climate change by the end of the century, experts warn.

Indian Railways aims to achieve net zero carbon cmission By 2030

8 Dec 2022

Indian Railways (IR) on Wednesday said it has envisioned to achieve net zero carbon emission by 2030.

Indonesia to build coal plants despite $20b deal on clean energy transition

5 Dec 2022

Indonesia will continue building new coal-fired power plants, despite a recent $20 billion deal with the G7 group of industrialized countries to help it transition to clean energy.

China petrochemicals sector likely to miss 2030 peak carbon target

29 Nov 2022

China’s petrochemical sector may reach peak carbon emissions only by 2035 – five years later than the national target – a Peking University report has found.

Decarbonising real estate: How to price the net zero transition to avoid a 'carbon bubble'

29 Nov 2022

Real estate is the largest asset class in the world and it’s also one of the most significant contributors to global carbon emissions.

Sri Lanka university aims to be the country’s first to go carbon neutral

28 Nov 2022

The University of Sri Jayewardenepura (USJ) in Sri Lanka has assessed its carbon footprint under ISO standards and has now become the country’s first university to be carbon audited.

The World Cup in Qatar is a climate catastrophe

24 Nov 2022

When the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), the world’s governing body for soccer, proclaimed that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar would be “a fully carbon-neutral event,” the collective chortle that emerged from environmentalists could have powered a wind farm.

How Japan is preparing for the global energy crisis

23 Nov 2022

The global energy crisis impacts everything from our daily lives to corporate activities. In Japan, there are growing fears that the supply and demand of electricity will be strained this winter.

How herbivores can help tackle climate change

22 Nov 2022

Large grass-eating mammals such as yak and ibex play a crucial role in stabilising the pool of soil carbon in grazing ecosystems that are a big part of the Earth’s land surface, new research shows.

Indonesia forest loss released carbon equal to Ukraine fossil-fuel use in 2021

21 Nov 2022

Destruction of forests in Indonesia released more greenhouse gases than Ukraine’s consumption of fossil fuels last year, even after taking into account newly sequestered carbon in the Southeast Asian nation’s trees, according to data non-profit CTrees released at the COP27 summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

Who will pay for Indonesia's clean energy bill?

16 Nov 2022

Celukan Bawang power station is one of a growing network of coal-fired power plants in Indonesia that are now the subject of complex negotiations to reduce the country's emissions.

Japan’s changing nuclear energy policy

15 Nov 2022

On August 24, 2022, at the newly established GX (Green Transformation) Implementation Council chaired by Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, the Japanese government announced a new nuclear energy policy.

Farmers in India are fighting climate change and desertification using nature

14 Nov 2022

A handful of dirt filled with earthworms might not seem like much, but it's the result of seven years of work.

In Mongolia, a quest to democratise carbon credits

11 Nov 2022

For several years, The Asia Foundation’s Mongolia office in Ulaanbaatar has been working to reduce their carbon footprint.

Japan delays carbon tax reform to curb living costs

9 Nov 2022

Japan is delaying plans to revise how it taxes carbon, the Nikkei newspaper reported, potentially slowing efforts to wean itself off fossil fuels.

Indonesia weighs blockchain-powered carbon trading scheme

2 Nov 2022

Indonesia wants to direct the blockchain craze toward greener use. The Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Metaverse Green Exchange (MVGX), a Singaporean startup that specializes in digital exchange technology.

Singapore explores hybrid wind, solar, tidal, & wave energy system

31 Oct 2022

Singapore has lots of inhabitants but not a lot of available land for solar panels and wind turbines. It does have a lot of open ocean to the south in the Singapore Strait, however. What it wants is renewable energy to power its economy that is reliable, consistent, and dependable.

What Bangladesh can teach the World about talking about climate change

27 Oct 2022

All lights are out here in my home city of Dhaka as I write these words. Cyclone Sitrang has knocked out the electricity in Bangladesh’s capital, plunging this city of 22 million people into darkness.

India gets ready to launch a national carbon market

20 Oct 2022

The Indian government has green-lighted the creation of a national carbon market that will be key to decarbonising heavy industry and helping shape international carbon trading.

Pakistan suffered climate-induced losses worth $29bn in past three decades: World Bank

17 Oct 2022

Climate-related disasters in Pakistan have resulted in economic losses of $29 billion over the past thirty years, according to a report by the World Bank.

Gujarat: Modhera to be declared first solar-powered village by PM

10 Oct 2022

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will declare Modhera in Mehsana as the country’s first round-the-clock solar-powered village on October 9 during his three-day visit to Gujarat, stated an official release.

‘South Asia, Himalayan region witness 40% of all climate disasters’

3 Oct 2022

How the EU's new energy plans impact Southeast Asia

29 Sep 2022

As European countries turn to energy suppliers in Southeast Asia, driving up global prices, there are concerns that other developing countries are being forced to spend more on increasingly expensive liquified natural gas or coal.

We owe Pakistan climate reparations

21 Sep 2022

It is almost impossible to comprehend the scale of the crisis Pakistan is facing. A third of the country has been flooded, 1400 people killed, one million homes destroyed, and fifty million people—almost the entire population of England—have been displaced from their homes as a result of this ecological crisis.

India to expand 2.8 million hectares of tree coverage under ‘trees outside forests in india’ initiative

16 Sep 2022

In an effort to support global climate change mitigation and adaptation goals, India and the US jointly launched an initiative to increase tree coverage outside of forest lands in India.

Vietnam urged to free green activist Nguy Thi Khanh as it bids to join UN rights body

15 Sep 2022

More than 50 Goldman environmental prize laureates from 41 countries have written to the UN human rights council as it considers admitting Vietnam as a new member.

Norway buys carbon credits from Indonesia’s rainforest

14 Sep 2022

Indonesia and Norway have agreed to start a new partnership to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation in the Southeast Asian country.

Bhutan - 'carbon negative"

13 Sep 2022

As the world’s richest countries fail to meet emissions reductions targets year after year, the small kingdom of Bhutan, tucked away in the Himalayas with a population of less than one million people, became the first country to reach carbon neutrality.

Pakistan is bearing the brunt of the climate crisis despite ‘small carbon footprint,’ minister says

7 Sep 2022

Pakistan is facing the worst consequences of the climate crisis thanks in part to the actions of the developed world, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said, as the country battles the worst floods in its history.

How Indian EV startups are mobilising mass adoption

6 Sep 2022

The Indian automobile industry is the fifth largest in the world, with a goal of becoming the third largest by 2030.

Indonesia’s push to reach net zero emissions can help power a new phase in its economic development

5 Sep 2022

Indonesia has a target to meet net zero emissions by 2060, and is reaching a new phase of economic development to do so.

The flooding in Pakistan is a climate catastrophe with political roots

31 Aug 2022

Flash floods over the weekend left one-third of Pakistan submerged from weeks of heavy rains, compounding an already difficult set of political and economic crises in the country.

Pakistan pins deadly floods on climate change

29 Aug 2022

Deaths from widespread flooding in Pakistan topped 1,000 since mid-June, officials said Sunday, as the country's climate minister called the deadly monsoon season "a serious climate catastrophe."

‘Climate change to impact 2 billion people’

23 Aug 2022

An irreversible decline in freshwater storage projected in parts of Asia due to climate change could impact 2 billion people living downstream of the Tibetan Plateau as it could pose a serious threat to water supplies to India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan by mid-century, according to the satellite-based assessment of water changes in Tibetan Plateau.

How climate change threatens Kashmir's crucial apple industry

19 Aug 2022

As Indian-administered Kashmir continues to witness abnormally high temperatures, apple growers fear that climate change will wipe out the region's orchards — which produce 80% of India's apples.

India bares new climate goals amid coal dependency woes

18 Aug 2022

India has gotten its updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) approved by the Cabinet. This will be submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). NDCs, which are long-term voluntary commitments made by countries signatory to the Paris Agreement, make up a global effort to reduce emissions and global warming.

As stronger storms hit Bangladesh farmers, banks are climate collateral damage

16 Aug 2022

Wasim Ali, 45, lived in one of the 55,000 houses destroyed by the deadly Super Cyclone Amphan in May of 2020. The tropical storm whipped up a tidal surge that swept away his house and razed his small farm, measuring just 0.4 hectares (1 acre). Thousands of people were left destitute after this massive natural disaster. But for Wasim Ali, a resident of Protapnagar in Bangladesh’s southwestern Satkhira district, the misery runs deeper.

After deluge, climate change fears make S.Korea prioritise Seoul flood defences

12 Aug 2022

The heaviest rain in Seoul in 115 years has spurred the South Korean capital to revive a $1.15 billion plan to improve drainage after floods exposed how even the affluent Gangnam district is vulnerable to climate change-driven extreme weather.

'The Sacrifice Zone': Myanmar bears cost of green energy

11 Aug 2022

The birds no longer sing, and the herbs no longer grow. The fish no longer swim in rivers that have turned a murky brown. The animals do not roam, and the cows are sometimes found dead.

India developing a carbon market

5 Aug 2022

India is developing its carbon market by undergoing several climate action plans in just a matter of days. The world’s 3rd-biggest emitter planned to set up a carbon credit market for the hard-to-abate sectors. These would initially include energy, steel, and cement industries.

India approves climate plan with increased ambition, clarifying energy goals

4 Aug 2022

India’s cabinet has approved an updated national climate plan, cementing targets pledged by Narendra Modi in November, including a 2070 net zero goal and 45% reduction in emissions intensity by 2030.