Sarawak can invest in or give away its future

There’s no need to continue accepting tragic trade-offs between healthy rivers and low-cost, reliable, and renewable electricity. This article was originally posted at Mongabay. In October, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report outlining strategies the world can pursue to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius and maintain...

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Forest protection is Malaysia’s climate ace card

What hope for Malaysia we saw at the Clean Energy Collaboration conference in Kuching.  Everyone from ministers, Sarawak state authorities, NGOs and community leaders all met together to find an affordable and an environmentally and socially sustainable pathway for Malaysia to transform its energy system, and electrify its rural areas. ...

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Malaysia’s Palm Oil Expansion Ban: More Greenwashing or a Signal of Real Change?

New Greenpeace report on clearcutting by palm oil groups underscores how practice persists in tropical forests. Earlier this month, Malaysia’s Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok announced that the government is committed to maintaining at least 50 percent forest cover nationwide, and will not allow any more expansion of oil palm plantations. This...

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How many dam bursts are too many?

In a warming climate, dams and downpours make for a dangerous mix This week, a dam breach in central Myanmar forced an estimated 50,000 people from their homes and flooded the country’s main highway. The Swar Chaung dam in Bago region overflowed as the result of this year’s particularly generous...

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A Letter from our Executive Director, June 2018

Dear Friends of The Borneo Project, To a Western audience, the word “Borneo” has historically conjured images of misty rainforest, densely packed with bird calls, buzzing insects, and maybe a primate or two swinging in the trees. Sadly, these days it more often summons images of palm oil plantations, orphaned...

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Megadams are so last year

(and we couldn’t be more pleased) Last February, the residents of a small town in California’s Gold Country were told a 30 ft wall of water was headed their way. The men and women of Oroville ran through the streets in panic, and almost 200,000 people were evacuated from the...

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