Ecology & Social Justice

Thailand is at the forefront of becoming a regional technology hub, fueling a wave of investment in hyperscale data centers. However, like all development, this comes with costs. 

Development is a double-edged sword for developing countries such as the Philippines and Cambodia. While institutions like the World Bank Group (WBG) and their clients engage in business activities intended to drive growth, affected communities often bear the social and environmental costs and struggle to secure accountability and remedy. 

The local spring has long sustained residents of water-short Gunung Batur, but their lifeline is at risk during this deep dry spell.

Indonesia’s intense, prolonged drought has exposed what remains of Somang, a village that was submerged to make way for the Karian Dam.  

Indonesia's plan to develop Green Super Grid will require transmission infrastructure that would allow renewable energy projects to operate more efficiently. The European Union's participation could mobilize transformative infrastructure outcomes for green energy in the country and strengthen their economic presence in Southeast Asia.

The Landbridge poses a serious threat to the Moken, whose Indigenous lifeways are deeply connected to the Andaman Sea. Their communities extend beyond Koh Phayam to Koh Lao and Koh Chang in Ranong, the Surin Islands in Phang Nga, and the waters where some continue to live at sea. 

Civil society group urges for gender-responsive climate finance that engages Indigenous knowledge and ensures inclusive community participation in shaping climate decisions across Asia.

Rather than viewing Thailand’s Landbridge as a transport infrastructure project, this article reinterprets it as a political process of territorial restructuring in Southern Thailand. 

In Indonesia, the island of Flores and its volcanoes are drawing geothermal projects. Built on Indigenous land, these large-scale plants are being developed without regard for local communities and the impacts on their health and the environment.

Across Asia, the rush towards new energy projects — from renewables to “false solutions” — is increasing risks for communities and defenders who speak out against the harmful impacts of these projects. 

The US is forming resource partnerships in Southeast Asia through bilateral critical minerals agreements and the US led Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement (FORGE), reshaping regional supply chains and strategic resource control.

Capitalist patriarchy drives mineral extraction, treating nature and women as interchangeable resources for profit. Materialist eco-feminism reveals how this system makes exploitation look natural. 

The side event, "From Voices to Action: Indigenous Leadership in Achieving Affordable and Clean Energy," was one of the side events of the 13th Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development held in Bangkok, Thailand.

To mark the International Day of Action for Rivers on 14 March 2026, this photo essay flows through eight Southeast Asian rivers—each a ribbon of memory, livelihood, and life. 

There seems to be no rainbow after the rain, particularly when the storm was as strong as Cyclone Senyar, which struck three Indonesian provinces on the island of Sumatra on November 25, 2025 leaving thousands of people homeless and hundreds dead. 

Indonesia is the world’s seventh-largest cocoa producer and the third-largest exporter of cocoa beans. Despite growing demand for cocoa, farmers face climate change impacts, aging cocoa trees, and environmental degradation, making the country’s cocoa sector more vulnerable to weather-related disasters.

Recent super typhoons in Southeast Asia starkly illustrate the urgent reality of Loss and Damage caused by the climate crisis, with communities facing devastation and increasing vulnerability. 

The Philippines, a nation rich in minerals, stands as a stark example of extractivism, prioritizing resource exploitation for export despite devastating environmental and social costs. 

The Philippines, one of the world's most cyclone-prone nations, faces escalating climate risks, highlighted by the recent onslaught of super typhoons. As climate change intensifies storm impacts, vulnerable communities, especially in farming sectors like Atok, are at greater risk of poverty and food insecurity. 

ท่ามกลางความพยายามของโลกในการเปลี่ยนมาใช้พลังงานสะอาด เมียนมา ประเทศที่เผชิญวิกฤตทางการเมืองยาวนานที่สุดแห่งหนึ่งของโลก ได้กลายเป็นเป้าหมายที่ประเทศมหาอำนาจทั่วโลก ไม่ว่าจะเป็นสหรัฐอเมริกา อินเดียหรือจีน ต่างพยายามเข้ามาจับจองแหล่งแร่หายาก (rare earth elements) และแร่สำคัญ (critical mineral)