In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

Mongolia has an abundance of natural resources, from vast grasslands and forests to endangered species and enviable reserves of minerals and energy resources. This abundance underlies the country’s rich cultural heritage, wild beauty, and potential for economic prosperity.

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International climate negotiations began this week in Cancun, Mexico, with little fanfare or expectation of reaching a binding agreement on reducing rising global temperatures. The Cancun Summit builds on last year’s disappointing but massive Copenhagen climate talks in Denmark. Since then, governments have done little to follow through on their pledges to reduce greenhouse gases [...]

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India’s Marwar region, located in the Great Indian Thar Desert, is the most densely populated arid zone in the world. While most deserts have three to four inhabitants per square kilometer, this region has 84 to 90. It covers an area of 13.5 million hectares comprising seven districts in Rajasthan State, India. The economy of [...]

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The signs of climate change are already evident in Mongolia as in many other countries in the world. Mongolia’s fragile ecosystems, pastoral animal husbandry, and rain-fed agriculture are extremely sensitive to climate change. As such, Mongolia’s traditional economic sectors and its people’s nomadic way of life are highly vulnerable to climate change. Mongolia joined the [...]

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I arrived in Cambodia during the dry season in February. A few months later in May, the rainy season was just around the corner. Like many places, the passing of the year there is defined by these seasonal transitions. Cambodia’s rice farmers rely on rainwater to feed their crops, and Cambodia’s fisherman anticipate the natural [...]

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For a group of environmental professionals who recently visited the U.S. from seven different countries in Asia, management of water resources was a unifying concern. The delegation embarked on a nine-day study tour, organized by The Asia Foundation’s Asian American Exchange (AAX) and flew to Washington State to explore water resource issues along the Columbia [...]

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Under a blazing sun and temperatures rising to nearly 90 degrees, Mongolia’s Prime Minister Batbold Sukhbaatar and all 12 of his cabinet members held their August 27 cabinet meeting seated at tables and chairs set up in the sand in the middle of the Gobi Desert, 415 miles south of the capital Ulaanbaatar. Wearing green [...]

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Despite tremendous economic growth achieved over the past two decades, hunger continues to beset much of Asia. Estimates show that there are 850 million hungry people globally. Of this total, at least 550 million are in Asia, indicating that some 16 percent of all Asians are in a state of hunger. This is a stubborn [...]

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Zhang Jiao earned her wealth in the agricultural wholesale fruit business, buying bananas from Hainan Island, oranges from Sichuan Province, and rice from Northeastern China, and selling it to wealthy markets such as Beijing. Despite her financial success, Zhang wanted to get back to the countryside, away from the harsh, constant urbanity of Beijing’s Wukesong [...]

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The four students dressed in hooded sweatshirts, faded jeans, and designer sneakers looked like any other teenagers walking along the streets of San Francisco. However, these students were part of a carefully selected delegation from Vietnam here last month to gain a sense of youth participation and awareness in environmental protection in the U.S. The [...]

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