The Samin or Wong Sikep or Sedulur Sikep Movement that has been struggling against cement companies' expansion in Central Java since 2006 is a part of a larger (and longest) peasant-based millenarian movement in Southeast Asia (and Java). This research launches an inquiry into how such a movement survives the test of time.
This E-paper by Tipakson Manpati explores the back and forth in the discourse and strategies around Thailand´s politics on the use of nuclear power, including debates on energy efficiency and long-term safety issues.
This report examines, SEZs in the Mekong region are often linked with human rights violations such as land dispossession, poor working conditions and environmental degradation. As SEZs have expanded in the region, so too have social conflicts and resistance from local residents who have fought to protect their land and resources.
This research looks into Asian Development Bank's 2009 Energy Policy, which justified its carbon-intensive energy lending portfolio for the past decade. It outlines CSOs critical review of ADB's energy policy and portfolio, urging the bank to take on its catalytic role in Asia's energy transformation by formally imposing a coal ban as the first step towards full decarbonization.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) was established to provide financing for infrastructure projects across Asia. The bank hit the ground running in 2015 with a bold agenda to create a “lean, clean and green” multilateral development bank for the 21st century. That vision included a commitment to create an Environmental and Social Framework containing policies that would bind the bank, and standards that AIIB clients are expected to uphold in their projects. In late 2018, the AIIB took the next step towards accountability when it approved its policy for the Project-affected People’s Mechanism, which facilities dispute resolution or investigates the bank’s compliance with its environmental and social policies.
This publication provides a practical guide to the policies, standards and guidelines for Chinese outbound investment. The updated guide builds on our 2017 edition, adding new details on the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s new vision for enhancing global connectivity, along with updates to administrative guidance from China’s central state agencies on outbound investment. It also covers new guidelines on rubber, agriculture, infrastructure projects and more. The guide explains the key actors involved in Chinese overseas investment and describes the environmental and social standards and guidelines that apply. It provides practical tips on how these standards can be used in advocacy with relevant Chinese actors and institutions.
In recent years, a number of countries have chosen to join the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which has become a major player in the global financial architecture in record time. The AIIB promises to be "lean, clean and green". In truth, it seems to be an instrument to promote Chinese interests. The analysis of Korinna Horta after three years of AIIB is very sobering. What can you do now? Is it time to acknowledge a total failure and leave the bank? What influence do shareholders still have and what should they push for?
