Sustainability
Water scarcity challenges China’s development model
Southern China’s longest drought on record is the latest manifestation of a slow-burning but increasingly severe water crisis. Left unchecked, it has the potential to act as a…
What Vietnam can learn from Thailand’s fight against illegal fishing
Illegal fishing activities conducted by Vietnamese vessels have spiked during the first six months of 2022, with most boats caught encroaching into the waters of Indonesia,…
Support Pacific neighbours by strengthening indigenous food systems
Across the island states of the Pacific, indigenous food systems have been shaped and refined over centuries to make the most of bountiful natural resources without exhausting…
What a waste! Japan’s food sustainability challenge
Japan is famous for its “mottainai” culture, often translated as “what a waste!”, which encourages people to reduce what is discarded from their everyday lives. At the same time,…
Indonesia-Australia climate change cooperation begins with the ocean
The recent visit to Jakarta by Australia’s new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was productive. Among many issues raised in a joint communique released following a meeting with…
Hyundai takes the driver’s seat in Indonesia’s EV market
In March, President Joko Widodo helped launch Indonesia’s first locally made electric vehicle – the IONIQ 5 – at a ceremony for a new automotive plant operated by the…
Global food threats: a chicken and egg story
A slew of countries have announced food export bans or higher food export taxes as a result of the war in Ukraine. The initial shortages in the global wheat supply following…
Water torture: Asia‑Pacific’s “WASH” crisis in need of solutions
With cruel symbolism, last month a UN conference focused on water challenges concluded in Jakarta just as floods deluged parts of South Asia and India’s capital New Delhi suffered…
Diplomacy is indispensable to manage the Mekong
Milton Osborne mischaracterises the Mekong River Commission when writing last month in The Interpreter that the regional organisation “ignores reality”. To say we were …
Russia-Ukraine: It always comes down to food
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to a food shortage – or crisis for some – in unexpected places across the world. For wheat, maize, barley and sunflower oil, Russia…