Low Carbon News in Laos in November 2014
1 November 14
Asean, dialogue partners deepen environmental cooperation
Asean member states have deepened cooperation among themselves and with Asean dialogue partners in bolstering environmental protection towards sustainable development and a green economy. Asean ministers responsible for the environment met at the 15th Informal Asean Ministerial Meeting on the Environment (15th IAMME) held in Vientiane this week.
The ministers also held talks with their counterparts representing Asean dialogue partners. Asean member countries have also taken meaningful steps in several important areas of regional cooperation, namely climate change and global warming, natural conservation and biodiversity, water resources management, urban environmental management and governance, coastal and marine environment, environmental science and technology, and environmentally sustainable cities.
On the same day, Asean environment ministers met with their counterparts from the Asean Plus Three countries (China, Japan and the Republic of Korea) to discuss future cooperation and review cooperation progress made in the past years.
Newspapers/vientianetimes/2014-11-01.pdf
06 November 14
More suppliers offering solar streetlights for new town
The Vientiane provincial authorities have not yet decided on the installation of solar streetlights in the new capital town despite having received more offers from companies to carry out this project. The solar electric power company of Mr Wu Wei, a Chinese businessman, met with the provincial authorities on Monday to introduce their product after a Lao company named Tiengkham Electricity Company introduced theirs late in August.
Even though solar cells are counted as a resource generating green renewable energy that can be installed without environmental impact, this was a new technology for the country therefore proper study was needed. Vientiane provincial Governor suggested that the company should make three different designs of the system that would be attractive and make the new town beautiful, and give them a detailed price breakdown so that the authorities can make comparisons with the cost of using power supply from a hydropower dam.
According to the provincial department, the authority plans to install around 1,500 of the twin-lamp
sets for solar street lighting in the new capital town.
Newspapers/vientianetimes/2014-11-06.pdf
13 November 14
Protected, conservation forest areas demarcated
Forested areas in critical locations that are vulnerable to encroachment have been demarcated in an attempt to protect trees from damage, officials have announced. Some 4,154 markers have been installed to earmark protected and conservation forest areas in at risk locations, according to a report from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. In addition, 1,938 signs have been installed to further identify protected and conservation forest areas.
According to the ministry’s report, the government has approved 139 forests as protected forests with a
combined area of almost 8 million hectares. Officials have almost completed forest management plans for 10 conservation forests and are preparing to draw up similar plans for the remaining forests.
These measures are intended to better manage, protect and conserve Lao forests in an effort to increase
forest coverage to 65 percent of the country’s entire area by 2015 and to 70 percent by 2020 as targeted
Newspapers/vientianetimes/2014-11-13.pdf
Lao PM attends Mekong-Japan Summit in Myanmar
Lao Prime Minister joined the leaders of other Mekong Subregion countries for talks with Japan at the 6th MekongJapan Summit, held on the 12nd November. The talks focused on the sustained infrastructural and logistical development schemes for which Japan has offered to provide financial and technical support in favour of the Mekong Subregion countries, namely Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand, according to the ministry.
The meeting also highly valued the progress of existing projects between the Mekong region countries and Japan, which have been developing substantially based on the “Tokyo Strategy 2012 for Mekong-Japan Cooperation”, adopted at the Fourth Mekong-Japan Summit over the year, which includes the three pillars to be implemented by 2015. The three pillars include “Enhancing Mekong Connectivity,’ ‘Developing Together,’ and ‘Ensuring Human Security and Environmental Sustainability.’
Newspapers/vientianetimes/2014-11-13.pdf
17 November 2014
Vientiane mulls conversion of waste to energy
The waste thrown out by Vientiane households may one day be used to produce energy, and city authorities are looking into the viability of such a scheme. Vientiane had signed contracts with two companies on Thursday to carry out feasibility studies. The studies will take 20 months and will survey what kinds of waste could be utilized along with the design of the plant that would convert it into energy, as well as the actual use of refuse-derived fuel. go ahead if the cost of producing fuel and energy from waste is too high, as it will not be attractive to buyers. Laos currently sources its electricity from hydropower and it would be difficult to find a buyer if the price of an alternative energy source was higher. But the prospects were brighter for the conversion of wastewater to energy if it meant lower bills for consumers compared to the amount charged for power produced by the national electricity grid.
If this project is realised, it would be a timely solution to Vientiane’s garbage problems, as the city’s landfill site has reached capacity. It would also be a cleaner use of waste and less hazardous to human health and the environment.
Newspapers/vientianetimes/2014-10-11.pdf
26 November 14
Officials convene on sustainable mining in Asean
Senior officials from Asean countries, China and Mongolia gathered in Vientiane yesterday to dissect the results of the recent Laos-Germany Technical Cooperation Project ‘Sustainable Development of the Mining Sector’. The three day seminar from November 25–27 brought together 33 participants from state mining authorities to discuss issues as well as exchange information and experience in the management of the sector. In many Asean countries the mining sector is an important part of socio-economic development, with many nations experiencing rapid growth in recent years and attracting domestic and foreign investment to the mineral extraction industry.
However, besides the potential for significant benefits, there are risks of environmental and social impacts. To reduce the risks and increase the economic and social benefits from mining, an effective governance system for the management of the mining sector is crucial. Supported by Lao-German Development Cooperation and implemented by the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources the project is entitled ‘Support for the Sustainable Development of the Mining Sector in Laos.’ It is being run in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy and Mines and specifically the Department of Mines, aiming to enhance the technical and management capacity of government agencies responsible for the management of the mineral sector in Laos.
The project started in 2011 and will run until the end of 2016.
Newspapers/vientianetimes/2014-11-26.pdf