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Green living
Environment
Latest news and updates about issues impacting the global environment, including climate change, recycling, pollution and sustainable living.
A man in Jammu, India, bathes from a roadside water tap on June 15 to cool himself off on a hot summer day. Photo: AP
Climate change

Asia is heating up at double the global rate amid climate crisis, UN warns

Asia’s vast land mass is intensifying extreme heatwaves as its sea surface warms at twice the global average, a new UN report reveals.

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Banking & finance

Open Questions | Veteran banker Jin Liqun on leading AIIB during its formative first 10 years

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Hong Kong science and tech

2 Hong Kong pilot schemes testing drones for landslide prevention operations

Middle East

Iraq’s Dukan reservoir drops to 20-year low, forcing rationing

Dwindling rains and damming upstream by Iran and Turkey have forced strict water rationing for 4 million Iraqis.

The Little Zab River pictured downstream of the Dukan Dam northwest of Iraq’s northeastern city of Sulaimaniyah in the autonomous Kurdistan region, on June 4. Photo: AFP
Japan

Japan on alert against scorching temperatures after 4 die of heatstroke

Meteorological agency issues precautions against early heatwave, as experts warn temperatures this year are likely to be ‘above normal’.

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Japan

Japan plans to expand nuclear risk payouts for towns, critics call it a ‘bribe’

The proposal would expand subsidies to towns within a 30km radius of nuclear facilities, up from the current 10km.

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Science

China to lead global space weather monitoring and warning network

Latest agreements add to country’s initiative in long-term surveillance system to protect communications, power grids.

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Solar storms can severely disrupt satellite communications, navigation and power grids on Earth. Photo: Shutterstock
Climate change

‘Crunch time’ for climate as scientists issue urgent global warning

Scientists warn key climate indicators in uncharted territory, 1.5-degree ‘carbon budget’ nearly exhausted.

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Open Questions series

Open Questions | Connectivity, economic integration can ease tariff pressures, says AIIB’s Jin

As Jin Liqun’s decade-long tenure as Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank president draws to a close, the finance veteran surveys the landscape for multilateral development.

China pollution

Opinion | How Asia’s failure to cooperate is killing its rivers and oceans

The recent UN Ocean Conference was a missed opportunity for a region that has the means to save its marine environment, but not the political will.

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Child labourers collect plastic waste from the Buriganga River in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on June 5. Photo: EPA-EFE
Thailand

Are Chinese-run mines in Myanmar polluting Thailand’s Kok River?

Tests by a Thai government agency have found levels of arsenic nearly five times international drinking water standards in the Kok River.

A giant Buddha statue in northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai province, with Thailand on the left and Myanmar in the centre, A new mine in northeast Myanmar is being blamed for rising pollution levels downstream in Thailand. Photo: AFP
Business of climate change

Could old coal mines help ease China’s solar-panel overcapacity?

The country leads the world in converting old coal mining sites into solar-power projects, according to Global Energy Monitor.

Trending in China

China online shops sell ‘wisdom inspiring’ water from Peking University lake

Online advertisements claim staring at so-called special water can ‘boost your spirits’, urging buyers not to drink it.

Japan

Going down: the acclaimed Japanese airport that’s sinking into the sea

More than US$150 million has been spent on raising the sea walls surrounding Kansai International Airport to slow the sinking rate.

Passengers gather at the departure hall of Kansai International Airport. Photo: AFP
Architecture and design

He turns fallen trees into furniture and he’s about to get very busy

Hong Kong furniture maker Lam Che salvages fallen trees and construction waste to make one-of-a-kind pieces and art installations.

Timber artisan Lam Che stands with some of his furniture pieces at his workshop in Kwun Tong, Hong Kong, on June 4, 2025. Lam uses wood salvaged from fallen trees to make furniture including stools and tabletop accessories such as radio and jewellery cabinets. Photo: Edmond So
Indonesia

Indonesia’s green groups welcome move to axe mining permits in Raja Ampat

Prabowo cancels four mining permits in Raja Ampat, but concerns remain over nickel exploitation on Gag Island and other small islands in Indonesia.

Japan

Japan’s Osaka Expo water shows suspended as Legionella levels top safety limit

Resumption of the shows will depend on the results of stepped-up sanitisation measures, including pipe cleaning and chemical disinfection.

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Trending in China

Chinese man, 35, refuses to work or get married, lives in a cave for 4 years

Former ride-hailing driver lives a hermit-like existence in ‘black hole’, says marriage is a ‘waste of time and money’.

A 35-year-old man in China has been living in a cave for the past four years after he rejected the notions of work and marriage. Photo: SCMP composite/Douyin
Hong Kong weather

Hong Kong T1 signal to remain in force on Thursday morning as Wutip brings rain

Forecaster says temperatures are expected to reach 33 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.

India

India’s ‘unbearable’ heatwave hits 47 degrees, sparking health emergency alerts

The severe heatwave has also led to soaring energy demand, which has strained power grids.

Conservation

‘Wild West out there’: UN Ocean Conference opens, aims to protect our seas

Two thirds of our oceans are ‘areas beyond national jurisdiction – that’s half our planet’.

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A sea turtle swims in an ocean invaded by plastic bottles. Photo: Shutterstock
Mainland China

China backs Mekong pollution probe after reports point finger at mining firms

Media reports and activists have said Chinese firms operating in Myanmar are responsible for pollution downriver in Thailand.

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Thai investigators found high levels of arsenic and lead in two rivers in the Mekong basin. Photo: Handout
Malaysia

Malaysia faces searing heatwave as temperatures hit high of 37 degrees

Health experts warn that the methods used in Malaysia to assess health risks from extreme heat are inadequate.

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China society

From Avatar to mountain of rubbish: China pulls decade of trash from caves

Officials say villagers dumped rubbish when the local government banned incineration but did not yet have a collection service.

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India

Only thing that grows is debt: how climate change fuels farmer suicides in India

Water shortages and climate change are driving crop failures and debt in India’s agriculture sector, which employs 45 per cent of the population.

Shaikh Imran shows a photo of his brother Shaikh Latif Sheru, a farmer who committed suicide due to mounting financial loans. Photo: AFP
Hong Kong environmental issues

Why is Hong Kong releasing 83,500 young fish into its waters?

Airport Authority also says it has finished deploying 500 artificial reefs as ‘housing’ for fish in waters surrounding facility.

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The Airport Authority releases juvenile fish into the waters to the west of the airport. Photo: Nora Tam
France

Researchers set sail, kicking off the third UN Ocean Conference in France

Delegates including heads of state, scientists, and environmental advocates are expected in Nice this week to confront growing threats to the ocean.

Luxury travel

Review | Looking for a luxury eco-resort in Fiji? Try Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort

Where better to celebrate World Oceans Day than at this luxury Fijian resort, where Scuba inventor Jacques Cousteau’s son works with its owners through his Ocean Futures Society.

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