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Environment

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Environment
Latest news and updates about issues impacting the global environment, including climate change, recycling, pollution and sustainable living.
A woman packs her shopping into a plastic bag in a supermarket in Chiba, Japan. Photo: AFP
Japan

Letters | Naphtha shock must spur East Asia to cut its plastics reliance

Readers discuss a potential positive consequence of Middle East volatility, the Russian leader’s coming visit to Beijing, and AI’s impact on China’s real economy.

Hong Kong environmental issues

Opinion | Mass tourism is not ecotourism. Hong Kong must do better on this soon

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Japan

How a Japanese deal to appease Trump resulted in Texans protesting in Tokyo

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United States

Thousands ordered to evacuate as Southern California wildfire threatens homes

Wind-driven Sandy Fire forces evacuations in Simi Valley, threatening properties.

The Sandy Fire approaching a neighbourhood in Simi Valley, California on Monday. Photo: AP
Science

China’s northeast, poor in rare earths, scores big find

A new type of deposit in Heilongjiang and Jilin promises easier, cheaper mining than in southern clay-rich areas, say scientists.

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Indonesia

Jakarta pushes back after Chinese chamber complains tougher rules hurt investors

A letter from the China Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia cited six major issues, including lower nickel ore quotas and project suspensions.

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Hong Kong environmental issues

Editorial | Hong Kong’s trees can serve as barometers amid climate change

The authorities and the public can play a role in documenting anomalies in leaf-shedding and flowering, and act to mitigate environmental harm.

Kapok trees bloom with vibrant red flowers while retaining green foliage that typically would have shed during winter, in Hong Kong on March 16. Photo: AFP
Maldives

Maldivian military diver dies in search of bodies of 4 Italian divers

The group of Italian divers is believed to have died while exploring a cave at a depth of about 50 metres (160 feet) in Vaavu Atoll despite the Maldives’ 30-metre diving limit.

Britain

Turning over a new leaf: why UK’s green mandate is a win for Asia

The Green Party’s record-breaking gains in UK council elections are a sign voters are taking climate change seriously, analysts say.

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South Korea

South Korea adds ‘extreme heat emergency’ to first major alert update in decades

Over the past five years, the average number of heatwave days and tropical nights has surged nearly threefold compared to the 1970s.

Children play in a fountain at Gwanghwamun Plaza in Seoul on April 26. Photo: Yonhap/EPA
India

Heat-triggered insurance offers cold cash cushion for India’s outdoor workers

India lost an estimated 247 billion hours of labour to extreme heat in 2024, equivalent to nearly US$194 billion in economic losses.

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Lata Solanki (left) sells clothes door to door on April 28. Photo: AFP
India

Video | How India is turning cow dung into cooking fuel

In the Hindu-majority nation, where cows are revered and their dung is widely available, biogas is a natural lifeline.

Fame and celebrity

As David Attenborough turns 100, the star naturalist’s ‘unequalled’ impact

We look at Attenborough’s unique ability to tell nature’s story through his BBC shows on evolution to ocean plastic as he turns 100 on May 8.

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India

Cash cow: biogas from dung solves India’s cooking fuel shortages

It is easy to find biogas supporters in a Hindu-majority nation where cows are revered and dung and urine have many uses.

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Gauri Devi cooks chapatti using biogas at her home in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district on April 24. Photo: AFP
Asia travel

Video | Bali is drowning in its own trash

Up to 70 per cent of the trash in the resort island’s landfill is organic waste, which over time, generates methane that can explode or trigger landslides.

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Malaysia

Malaysia warns of health risks from heatwave, 2 deaths recorded this year

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has ordered cloud-seeding operations to be carried out in the worst-affected states.

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Japan

Avocados push out citrus fruits as Japan warms up from climate change

Global warming is expected to expand areas suitable for ‘sensitive’ avocados in Japan 2.5-fold or more by the middle of the century.

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Hong Kong environmental issues

Editorial | Hong Kong needs to better protect its natural assets from tourists

Without stronger measures that address risks all year round, the city could lose the natural heritage it seeks to showcase.

Mainland tourists enjoy hot pot at Ham Tin Wan, Sai Kung East Country Park, part of the Hong Kong Unesco Global Geopark, on May 2. Photo: Edmond So
Hong Kong society

Green group warns of disturbance to uninhabited island known for breeding seabirds

Green Hope Hong Kong says several people landed on island near Po Toi Island and warns birds may abandon nests if disturbed.

Japan

Japan’s FamilyMart gives old clothes new lease of life to reduce textile waste

Some 560,000 tonnes of clothes are estimated to be thrown away in Japan each year – about 70 per cent of new clothing supplied to the market.

Thailand

The cost of cute: how ‘petfluencers’ are driving Asia’s wildlife crime

Thailand is a key pipeline in a lucrative global trade that animal activists warn risks spreading zoonotic diseases and erasing biodiversity.

Indian star tortoises confiscated from a woman attempting to travel with them at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok on Wednesday. Photo: Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation / AFP
Hong Kong environmental issues

Opinion | It’s not ecotourism if it risks damaging Hong Kong’s natural assets

Authorities need to shift ecotourism management strategies to avoid it becoming part of the problem it was meant to solve.

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A man crosses a hazard warning boundary after taking pictures near the edge of a cliff on the way to the Po Pin Chau Viewing Platform at High Island Reservoir’s East Dam on January 3. Photo: Elson Li
Hong Kong tourism

How unlicensed mainland Chinese tour groups cash in on Hong Kong campsites

Unlicensed guide admits to regularly crossing border as tourist for illegal work, while another insists 30-member group ‘just friends’.

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Malaysia

Elephants never forget? Malaysians demand Japan return ‘homesick’ trio

One video shows Dara, Amoi and Kelat responding to their names in Malay while another reportedly reveals one of the elephants ‘weeping’.

Thailand

Video | Rare earth mining is poisoning the Mekong River

Toxins pose health risks including cancer, organ failure and developmental harm.

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Tourism

Opinion | From Japan to India, overtourism cries out for new success metrics

Arrival numbers are important, but the impact on local communities, public services and environments is too often overlooked.

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A rider has a phlegmatic manner as tourists crowd a street lined with blooming cherry blossom trees in Kyoto on March 28. Japan received 42.7 million international visitors in 2025. Photo: Reuters
Climate change

Tropical forest loss still 11 football fields a minute – or Denmark per year

Researchers warn that fires fuelled by climate change are a dangerous new normal and could reverse gains made in tackling deforestation.

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Thailand

‘Destroying the world’s kitchen’: the poisoning of the Mekong River

Many millions depend on the river but toxic run-off from mining for modern technology - including for war - could be an existential threat.

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