UPCOMING EVENT: Water Governance in Southeast Asia: A Roundtable Discussion on the Mekong River Basin [Online, 19 March 2021]

06.30 - 08.00 am BKK Time, Friday, 19 March 2021 via Zoom.

Carl Middleton from CSDS will be one of the speakers for the panel.

This Roundtable focuses on the water governance and water management challenges in Southeast Asia, particularly in the Mekong River basin. It will examine questions of environmental justice with a panel of experts on the region, whose interests include—specifically in relation to the Mekong—issues of political ecology, energy and water security, the protection and restoration of river ecosystems, and the rights of local communities and migrant workers.

Speakers:

• Pianporn Deetes, Regional Campaigns and Communications Director, Southeast Asia Program, International Rivers

• Brian Eyler, Senior Fellow and Director, Southeast Asia program, Stimson Centre, Washington DC

• Melissa Marschke, Associate Professor, International Development and Global Studies, University of Ottawa, Canada

• Carl Middleton, Director of the Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

Chairs:

• Phil Calvert, Former Canadian Ambassador to Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos; CAPI Senior Research Fellow

• Victor V. Ramraj, CAPI Director and Chair in Asia-Pacific Legal Relations; Professor, UVic Faculty of Law

Opening Remarks:

• Kevin Hall, President, University of Victoria

Please click here for the link to register for the Zoom Webinar, and for more information about the event, please visit the organizer’s website here.

UPCOMING EVENT: Opening Talk for the Photo Exhibition “The Mekong is Blue and Dried” [Bangkok, 16 March 2021]

17.30 - 19.00, Monday, 16 March 2021 at the Corner Space, 1st Floor, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC)

Carl Middleton from CSDS will be one of the speakers for the talk.

A selection of photographs and artworks will be showcased in SEA Junction’s “Mekong is Blue and Dried” exhibition on 16 – 28 March 2021 at Corner Space, 1st Floor, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC). The exhibition is born out of concern for the environmental degradation of the Mekong River.

The exhibition will be launched with an opening talk (in English) on the issue by the speakers listed below, on 16 March 2021, 5:30 – 7:00 pm at Corner Space, 1st Floor, BACC where the exhibition is held.

Speakers

• Anthony Zola, Independent Researcher

• Carl Middleton, Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

• Premrudee Daoroung, Lao Dam Investment Monitor

• Laure Siegel, Freelance Journalist

Moderator

• Rosalia Sciortino, SEA Junction

For more information about the event, as well as on how to register, please visit the organizer’s website here.

UPCOMING EVENT: 3rd International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies [Online, 5-7 March 2021]

12:30-14:00 Myanmar / 13:00-14:30 Thailand on 5 March, 2021, Online and at Chiang Mai University, Thailand

Carl Middleton (CSDS) and Vanessa Lamb (University of Melbourne) will convene a roundtable session titled: “Knowing the Salween River: Reflections on activism, resource politics and peace” for the 3rd International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies. The session will be held on 12:30-14:00 Myanmar / 13:00-14:30 Thailand on 5 March, 2021.

The Salween River basin, shared by Myanmar/Burma, Thailand and China, is dynamic system and a site of long-standing contests over territories, resources, and governance. More recently, it is also increasingly recognised as a site for peace and collaborative water governance. This panel will provide inter-disciplinary perspectives by civil society and academic researchers on the unfolding dynamics on the Salween River in and from Myanmar and in a regional context. We will discuss the politics, activism, and policies linked to intensifying resource extraction, hydropower dam construction as well as conservation and development schemes, and how this is unfolding within a complex terrain of local, national and transnational governance and activist networks. Panellists were all contributors and researchers linked to the 2019 collaborative book, “Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River”, which was also the first book dedicated to understanding this complex river system.

Panelists

 Speakers:

• April Kyu Kyu, Researcher, SaNaR (Save the Natural Resource)

• Saw John Bright

• Pianporn Deetes, Thailand and Myanmar Campaigns Director, International River

• Alec Scott, Independent Researcher

Discussant:

• Professor Saw Win, Senior Research Associate, Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University 

Co-Chairs:

• Vanessa Lamb, Senior Lecturer, School of Geography, University of Melbourne

• Carl Middleton, Director, Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

The conference will be hybrid: 80% online and 20% onsite. As most sessions will be organized online, the registration fee is waived for all conference participants. All participants, please register here to participate in the conference.

For more information about this conference, please visit the organizer’s website here.

The International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies was first organized in July 2015 at Chiang Mai University in collaboration with the University of Mandalay. ICBMS was attended by 543 participants from 29 countries, with 48 sessions of paper presentation and 7 roundtables. The conference brought together scholars, researchers, journalists, NGO workers and observers from Burma/Myanmar, as well as from around the world to engage in discussion on Myanmar’s transition.

ICBMS is organized every two years, with Chiang Mai University and the University of Mandalay taking turns as conference host, and with the possibility of extending collaboration with other universities in both Myanmar and Thailand.

ICBMS3 will happen onsite, in person, at Green Nimman CMU (Uniserv), in Chiang Mai, from 5-7 March 2021.

UPCOMING EVENT: “Making the Renewables Revolution a Reality: Challenges & opportunities in Asia and the Pacific (REN21 Virtual Academy 2020)”

15.00-16.30 (Thailand time), Tuesday, 24th November 2020

Carl Middleton from CSDS will moderate this panel.

 This panel discussion will address the challenges of the renewable energy transition in the Asia and the Pacific region, hosted as part of the REN21 Virtual Academy 2020. The panel will address the following four topics: 1) Tackling Asia’s coal investments to meet nationally determined contributions (NDCs) as committed in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and mitigate air pollution; 2) Providing low-cost and effective sustainable energy options to eliminate energy poverty; 3) Accelerating regional connectivity for sustainable energy; and 4) Applying energy-water-food nexus lens in sustainable energy planning and investments.

The panelists are:

• Ms. Monica Yamin Wang, Director, REpowering Asia, WWF

• Mr. Abhishek Jain, Director, Powering Livelihoods, Council on Energy, Environment and Water

• Dr. Akbar Swandaru, Lead Researcher, ASEAN Center for Energy

• Ms. Bridget McIntosh, Country Director for Cambodia, Energy Lab

Following brief framing presentations by each speaker, all session participants are invited into an interactive online space to discuss the four topics outlined and to interact with the speakers.

To learn more about and register for the REN21 Virtual Academy 2020, please visit here: https://www.ren21.net/2020-ren21-academy/

Read more about CSDS's research on the water-food-energy nexus here.

UPCOMING EVENT: Virtual Conference on Sustainable Development and the Future of the Mekong [Online, 27 October 2020]

13.30-15.30, Tuesday, 27th October 2020 via Zoom

Carl Middleton from CSDS will be presenting on this event.

The Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace (CICP) is going to organize a virtual conference on "Sustainable Development and the Future of the Mekong". For those participants who wish to attend in this virtual event, please complete the reply form in link here: http://bit.ly/FutureMekong

Panel IV: Human Security Issues in the Mekong Context: Agriculture, Energy, Water and Environment

The topics of rising energy demand, food and water security as well as environment have become increasingly salient in recent years and interact directly both at present and in future with the sustainability of the Mekong. Panelists from the Lower Mekong states, drawing on their particular areas of expertise, will address one or more of these human security issues and examine what policy frameworks can be developed in order to avoid humanitarian and development crises in the subregion.

Panelists:

Instigator: H.E. Amb. Pou Sothirak, CICP Executive Director

• Dr. Mak Sithirith, Water Governance Specialist and Senior Research Fellow at CICP

• Mr. Lê Trung Kiên, Senior Researcher, Institute for Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam

• Dr. Han Phoumin, Senior Energy Economist, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, Jakarta

• Ms. Solinn Lim, Country Director, Oxfam Cambodia

• Dr. Carl Middleton, Deputy Director, Center for Social Development Studies, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

Carl’s presentation will be on ”Water data democratization in the Mekong-Lancang basin”. For more information about this event, please visit the organizer’s webpage here.

UPCOMING EVENT: The 2nd CU SDGs Platform Forum “จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัยกับการร่วมขับเคลื่อนความยั่งยืน: อนาคตโลกหลัง COVID-19” [Bangkok, 26 August 2020]

09.00-16.00, Wednesday, 26th August 2020 at Meeting Room 801 (Floor 8th), Chaloem Rajakumari 60 Building (Chamchuri 10), Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

Carl Middleton from CSDS will be presenting on this event.

Strategic management, Chief Transformation and Strategic Office (CTS) is inviting Chula staff to join the 2nd CU SDGs Platform Forum on “Chulalongkorn University in partnership of driving sustainability: the future of the Post-COVID-19” with the aim to develop CU SDGs Platform, an open mechanism for building a network of people working on Sustainable Develo0pment Goals (SDGs), which is the starting point for further collaboration in the future of the Chulalongkorn community.

Carl will present on “The Political Ecology of Public Resources and Competition : The Future Challenges".

For those who interested please register online within 24th August 2020 via QR Code or https://qrgo.page.link/7o9FV

For further information, please contact Strategic management, Chief Transformation and Strategic Office (CTS). Tel: 02-218-0461

For the full schedule, please see below:

UPCOMING PANEL DISCUSSION: The Mekong runs dry? Governance in transition: A close look at current rules and geopolitics at play

17.00 - 19.30, Wednesday, 29th july 2020 at the SEA-Junction, 4th Floor, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre

Carl Middleton from CSDS will be presenting on this event.

Development in the Mekong region, especially development trends and projects on the mainstream Mekong River itself, has long been a critical challenge and complicated issue for concerned parties and the public at large, and needs much understanding so that people can help one another find the way to share resources and live together in harmony. The attempt was first challenged since China started to develop the upper part of the river by building a cascade of dams on the river in early 1990s.

The challenge has become far critical especially in regard to the aspect concerning transboundary impacts as the Mekong countries become ambitious too and wish to build a cascade of dams, 11 so far, on the lower part of the river. At this point, they have been more than half way, as the sixth dam project, Sanakham, is subject to the regional prior consultation process, The question is; in times when development of the river has accelerated and posed a more serious threat, whether existing mechanisms to regulate water uses and mitigate impacts are efficient enough and catch up with such the speeding trend, and more critically, whether geopolitics in the region is still much at play and influences decisions made in regard to development in the region.

List of expert panelists: 

• Dr.Somkiat Prajamwong, Chairperson of the MRC Joint Committee for 2020 and Secretary General of the Office of National Water Resources

• Dr. Carl Middleton, Director of the Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS), the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

• Pianporn Deetes, Thailand Campaign Coordinator, International Rivers

• Premrudee Daoroung, Coordinator, Lao Dam Investment Monitor (LDIM)

• Orapin Lilitvisitwong, Editor, Thai PBS’s website, Decode

THE SESSIONS WILL BE PRESENTED IN THAI

In accordance with the COVID-19 regulation, please confirm your participation ahead of the event (limited seats available). You can confirm your participation through Bangkok Tribune News FB Messenger here.

You can also watch the event live at FB Live: Bangkok Tribune News FB Page.

For more information, please visit the event’s website here.

UPCOMING PANEL DISCUSSION: Saving the Mekong [Bangkok, 19 February 2020]

19.00 - 21.00, Wednesday, 19th February 2020 at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT), Penthouse, Maneeya Center, 518/5 Ploenchit Road, Patumwan, Bangkok, Thailand

Carl Middleton from CSDS will be presenting on this event.

Will the “mighty Mekong” be the first of the planet’s great rivers to be destroyed by development?

Dramatic changes to the Mekong’s water flow, caused by dozens of dams built over the past 30 years on its upstream reaches in China, Laos and Cambodia, are threatening an ecosystem of unrivalled diversity outside the Amazon basin. More dam projects are underway or in planning stages, even as fish stocks are falling sharply. In late 2019 the lack of sediment, held back by the dams, turned the river from its usual brown to a startling blue colour, a worrying indication of further environmental degradation. China insists it manages the flow from its dams responsibly, but Chinese companies continue to fund and/or build new dams in Laos and Cambodia, with agreement from regional governments.

Leading environmental experts believe the true economic impact of over-development on the river and its resources has not been properly calculated. A recent decision by the Thai government to scrap approval for a Chinese proposal to blast and dredge a 90km kilometre stretch of the river to enable access for larger vessels is a rare victory for civil society groups opposing destructive development, but may point to greater resistance by affected communities in the future.
 
List of expert panelists: 

• Brian Eyler, author of Last Days of the Mekong and director of the Stimson Center’s Southeast Asia program, who traveled along the river from China’s Yunnan province to its delta in southern Vietnam to explore its modern evolution. (via Skype)

• Pianporn Deetes, Thailand Campaigner for International Rivers, which led the campaign against blasting rock shoals in the Mekong.

• Pou Sothirak, Executive director of Phnom Penh-based CICP, a think tank focusing on regional issues, and a former Cambodian ambassador to Japan.

• Carl Middleton, lecturer in International Development Studies and deputy director for international research in the Center for Social Development Studies at Chulalongkorn University, where he focuses on environmental issues in Southeast Asia.

For more information, please visit FCCT’s website here.

UPCOMING PANEL DISCUSSION: Mekong Downstream Blues [Bangkok, 1 February 2020]

BANGKOK EDGE 2020

Change and Resistance: Future Directions of Southeast Asia

1-2 February 2020, grounds of Museum Siam and Chakrabongse Villas, Bangkok, Thailand

Talks 2: Mekong Downstream Blues

Saturday, 1 February 2020, 13:30-14:30, Main Building Museum Siam

The 4,350 km Mekong River rises in China and is the world’s 12th longest. Current unsustainable practices are a severe environmental threat to the livelihoods of tens of millions in downstream countries. Unegulated mega-dam projects and water extraction on the upper Mekong will cause untold hardship for downstream countries in all aspects of life - agriculture, fishing, and everyday living. Already negative impacts are being observed. The panel will examine the future of this mighty river.

Speakers:

• Carl Middleton, Director of Center of Social Development Studies, Chulalongkorn University

• Pianporn Deetes, activist and campaigns director International Rivers

• Sean Chadwell, Executive Director Luang Prabang Film Festival

Moderated by Jonathan Head, Southeast Asia Correspondent for the BBC.

For more information about the event, please visit this link here.

UPCOMING PANEL DISCUSSION: Silencing the Mekong The making of Xayaburi dam from commencement to operations [Bangkok, 22 October 2019]

18.00 - 20.00, Tuesday, 22nd October, 2019 at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT), Penthouse, Maneeya Center, 518/5 Ploenchit Road, Patumwan, Bangkok, Thailand

Carl Middleton from CSDS will be presenting on this event.

On 29th October 2019, the Xayaburi Hydropower Project on the Mekong in Laos will formally commence operations. As the first dam on the lower Mekong mainstream, this marks a turning point for the Mekong River.

From the outset, the Xayaburi dam was a highly controversial project due to widespread concerns over its expected impacts on the river system, including transboundary impacts in neighboring countries. Major predicted impacts include the destruction of Mekong migratory fisheries and trapping of sediment, preventing it from traveling downstream. The dam’s environmental impacts in turn threaten the food, livelihoods and socio-cultural systems of populations residing within the river basin.

During the Xayaburi dam consultation process, many stakeholders raised concerns over the project and questioned the adequacy of the data and studies. The Vietnamese government called for a project suspension and a ten-year moratorium on all mainstream dams pending further study to better understand the river system and the impacts of planned dams. In Thailand, community representatives along the Mekong River filed a landmark lawsuit in the Thai Administrative Court challenging Thailand’s power purchase from the project. Originally filed in 2012, following several appeals, the lawsuit remains pending over 7 years later.

Despite this, the Xayaburi dam moved forward, with the developers undertaking a redesign in an effort to mitigate concerns. Subsequent projects have followed. This month, the MRC announced the commencement of Prior Consultation for Luang Prabang, the fifth lower Mekong mainstream dam to undergo the process.

In the lead up to the commissioning of Xayaburi dam, this event will include a panel discussion with academic, community and civil society speakers. The panel will share comments on the project’s history, its flawed decision-making process, and the ongoing campaigns, and Xayaburi’s implications for the ecosystems and people of the Mekong basin.

The event will feature the launch of a new report. International Rivers commissioned two independent experts to provide comments on the MRC’s review of the Xayaburi redesign, released earlier this year. The expert commentary examines the legacy of Xayaburi in setting a benchmark for decisions on mainstream dams and highlights the urgent need for a truly regional approach to safeguard the Mekong’s future.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Dr Carl Middleton, Center for Social Development Studies, Chulalongkorn University

• Ormbun Thipsuna, Thai People’s Network in Eight Mekong Provinces

• Sarinee Achavanuntakul, Salforest

• Professor Le Anh Tuan, Research Institute for Climate Change, Can Tho University

• Maureen Harris, International Rivers

For more information, please visit FCCT’s website here.

UPCOMING EVENT: "Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River"

Saturday, 7 September 2019, Alumni Meeting Room, 12th Floor, Kasem Utthayanin Building (อาคารเกษม อุทยานิน), Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand (guide to the venue here)

Co-organized by Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS) and Salween Studies Network

The Salween River, shared by China, Myanmar, and Thailand, is increasingly at the heart of pressing regional development debates. The basin supports the livelihoods of over 10 million people, and within it there is great socioeconomic, cultural and political diversity. The basin is witnessing intensifying dynamics of resource extraction, alongside large dam construction, conservation and development intervention, that is unfolding within a complex terrain of local, national and transnational governance. With a focus on the contested politics of water and associated resources in the Salween basin, in this seminar we will explore the possible futures of the Salween basin through the lens of: resource politics; politics of knowledge making; and reconciling knowledge across divides. The seminar will also launch the new book: “Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River”.

Program and List of Panelists:

08.30 - 09.00  Registration

09.00 - 09.15  Welcome remarks 

• Dr. Ake Tangsupvattana, Dean, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

09.15 - 10.30  Panel 1: Resource politics and the Salween River

Chair: Vanessa Lamb, University of Melbourne

• “From Hydropower Construction to National Park Creation: Changing Pathways of the Nu River” by Carl Middleton, Chulalongkorn University [with Chen Xiangxue]

• “Hydropower Politics and Conflict on the Salween River” by Alec Scott, Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN) [with Carl Middleton and Vanessa Lamb]

• “Local Context, National Law: The Rights of Karen People on the Salween River in Thailand“ by Laofang Bundidterdsakul, Legal Advocacy Center for Indigenous Communities (LACIC)

10.30 - 10.45 Coffee Break

10.45 - 12.00 Panel 2: Politics of knowledge making

Chair: Professor Saw Win, Retired Rector of Maubin University

• “An Ethnobotanical Survey in Shan State, Myanmar: Where Thanlwin Biodiversity, Health, and Deforestation Meet” by Mar Mar Aye, Lashio University [with with Swe Swe Win]

• ‘'Not only Anti-dam: Simplistic Rendering of Complex Salween Communities in Their Negotiation for Development in Thailand” by Paiboon Hengsuwan, Chiang Mai University

• “Opportunities and Challenges for Salween Water Governance: Lessons learned from Daw La Lake and Kaw Ku Island, Karen State” by Saw Tha Phoe

12.00 - 13.00 Lunch

13.00 - 13.15 Short film showing: “Salween Stories” with introduction by Carl Middleton

13.15 - 14.30 Panel 3: Reconciling knowledge across divides

Chair: John Dore, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia

• “A State of Knowledge of the Salween River: An Overview of Civil Society Research” by Vanessa Lamb, University of Melbourne [with Carl Middleton, Saw John Bright, Saw Tha Phoe, Naw Aye Aye Myaing, Nang Hom Kham, Sai Aum Khay, Nang Sam Paung Hom, Nang Aye Tin, Nang Shining, Yu Xiaogang, Chen Xiangxue and Chayan Vaddhanaphuti]

• “Fisheries and Socio-economic Change in the Thanlwin River Estuary in Mon and Kayin State, Myanmar” by Cherry Aung, Pathein University

• “The Impact of Land Cover Changes on Socio-economic Conditions in Bawlakhe District, Kayah State” by Khin Sandar Aye, Loikaw University [with Khin Khin Htay]

14.30 - 14.45 Coffee Break

14.45 - 16.00 Panel 4: The future of the Salween River: Policy, politics, and practice

Chair: Carl Middleton, Chulalongkorn University

• “Positioning the Salween in Myanmar’s River Politics” by Khin Maung Lwin, Advisor to the National Water Resources Committee, Myanmar

• “What’s Next for the River? Is the Thanlwin ‘Under Threat’ or ‘on the Thread’” by Nang Shining, Weaving Bonds Across Borders and Mong Pan Youth Association

• “Salween as a Site for Transboundary Justice and Activism” by Pianporn Deetes, International Rivers

16.00 - 16.30 Book Launch and Concluding Remarks

This event will be broadcasted on Facebook Live: www.facebook.com/CSDSChula/

To register for this forum, please e-mail us your name, organisation, and position to  Anisa Widyasari (CSDS) at communications.csds@gmail.com. The seat is limited and registration will be accepted on first come first served basis. 

For the most updated information, you can also visit the event’s landing page here.

UPCOMING EVENT: "Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River"

Saturday, 7 September 2019, Alumni Meeting Room, 12th Floor, Kasem Utthayanin Building (อาคารเกษม อุทยานิน), Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand (guide to the venue here)

Co-organized by Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS) and Salween Studies Network

The Salween River, shared by China, Myanmar, and Thailand, is increasingly at the heart of pressing regional development debates. The basin supports the livelihoods of over 10 million people, and within it there is great socioeconomic, cultural and political diversity. The basin is witnessing intensifying dynamics of resource extraction, alongside large dam construction, conservation and development intervention, that is unfolding within a complex terrain of local, national and transnational governance. With a focus on the contested politics of water and associated resources in the Salween basin, in this seminar we will explore the possible futures of the Salween basin through the lens of: resource politics; politics of knowledge making; and reconciling knowledge across divides. The seminar will also launch the new book: “Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River”.

For more information about this seminar, please contact communications.csds@gmail.com.

For the most updated information, you can also visit the event’s landing page here.

UPCOMING EVENT: Panel Discussion "The Mekong Drought: Impact and Solutions" [Bangkok, 2 August 2019]

Friday 2 August 2019, 13.30 - 15.00 at 8th Floor, Chaloem Rajakumari 60 Building, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

This panel is organized as part of the 8th Chula ASEAN Week and 5th Parliementaty ASEAN Community Forum

The Lancang-Mekong basin is currently facing a severe drought, with serious consequences for communities living within the basin. The drought takes place in the context of increasingly extensive hydropower dam construction in the basin on the mainstream and tributaries. These projects have expanded water storage capacity that could potentially alleviate drought, but have also impacted the natural hydrology and ecology of the river with a range of negative consequences for existing riparian livelihoods. Meanwhile, intergovernmental cooperation towards the Lancang-Mekong River is evolving with the launch of the Lancang Mekong Cooperation in 2016 alongside the existing Mekong River Commission. This panel will discuss the impact of the drought currently affecting the Mekong River basin, including on rural farming and fishing communities, its causes, and the immediate and long-term solutions.

Invited speakers:

• Representative, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand (t.b.c.)

• Representative, Embassy of The People's Republic of China in The Kingdom of Thailand (t.b.c.)

• Niwat Roykaew, Rak Chiang Khong

• Chaiwat Parakhun, Representative of the Thai Mekong Network;

• Suphakit Nuntavorakarn, Healthy Public Policy Foundation.

• Dr. Carl Middleton, Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

Chair: Emeritus Professor Surichai Wun’gaeo, Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, Chulalongkorn University

The panel will be held in Thai and English language with simultaneous translation available.

This event will be broadcasted on Facebook Live: www.facebook.com/CSDSChula/

To register online and for more details about the 8th Chula ASEAN Week and the 5th Parliamentary ASEAN Community Forum, please visit the link here.

UPCOMING EVENT: CU Graduate Student Seminar Series 'The Globalization of Environmental Law' [Bangkok, 30 July 2019]

The Globalization of Environmental Law: A Seminar and Discussion with Professor Tseming Yang

Tuesday 30 July 2019, 10.00 - 11.30 at Mekong Room, Stockholm Environment Institute, 10th Floor, Kasem Utthayanin Building (อาคารเกษม อุทยานิน), Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand (guide to the venue here)

Tseming Yang is a Professor of Law at Santa Clara University School of Law in California. He is the former Deputy General Counsel of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), appointed by President Barack Obama, and from 2007-10, he led the establishment of the US-China Partnership for Environmental Law, a USAID and State Department-funded initiative to build China’s institutional capacity in environmental law and governance. Professor Yang's research and practice focus on advancing understanding of the structure and role of the law with respect to the environment, as well as how to ensure that effective implementation will contribute to the achievement of justice and sustainability. He has an expertise in environmental law in international treaties, and in the law and governance systems of other countries.

Discussants:

• Dr. Naporn Popattanachai, Assistant Dean for Administration and Director of the Centre for Natural Resources and Environmental Law, Faculty of Law, Thammasat University

• May Thazin Aung, Research Associate, Stockholm Environment Institute

Moderator: Sara K. Phillips, PhD Candidate, GRID Program, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University and Doctoral Fellow, Stockholm Environment Institute

To register for this event, please send and e-mail to CU Graduate Student Seminar Series at cugradseminar@gmail.com.

UPCOMING PANEL DISCUSSION: Mega dams, sand mining and renewable energy: Navigating a new course for the mighty rivers of Southeast Asia

19.00 - 22.00, Wednesday, 12th June 2019 at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT), Penthouse, Maneeya Center, 518/5 Ploenchit Road, Patumwan, Bangkok, Thailand

Carl Middleton from CSDS will be presenting on this event. Carl will be talking about the future relationship between the Mekong River Commission (MRC) and the Lancang Mekong Cooperation (LMC)

Panelists include:

• Dr. Leonie Pearson, senior research fellow, Water for Stockholm Environment Institute: A renowned ecological economist and expert in sustainable development, landscape water management, livelihood policy and urban-rural integrated assessments.

• Marc Goichot, WWF-Greater Mekong Water Lead, who has spent two decades in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos working on water stewardship, hydropower, disaster risk reduction and climate change.

• Dr. Carl Middleton, lecturer in International Development Studies and deputy director for international research in the Center for Social Development Studies at Chulalongkorn University, where he focuses on the politics and policy of the environment in Southeast Asia, with a particular emphasis on environmental justice and the political ecology of water and energy.

• Rina Chandran, land and property rights correspondent, Thomson Reuters Foundation and a former business journalist in India, Singapore and New York with Reuters News, Bloomberg and the Financial Times.

For more information about this event, please visit the webpage here.

UPCOMING EVENT: CU Graduate Student Seminar Series 'The Water-Food-Energy Nexus' [Bangkok, 21 May 2019]

Tuesday 21 May 2019, 13.00 - 16.00 at Alumni Meeting Room, 12th Floor, Kasem Utthayanin Building (อาคารเกษม อุทยานิน), Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand (guide to the venue here)

Our inaugural interdisciplinary seminar will highlight ongoing graduate student research related to the water-food-energy nexus. Students will present cross-cutting research in the areas of political ecology of water, bioenergy, agriculture, and the politics of water allocation in Southeast Asia. Join your fellow graduate students for an engaging exchange of ideas in a relaxed atmosphere!

Speakers:

• "A political ecology of Bangkok waters: the institutional interplay between subsidence, floods and water infrastructures" by Thanawat Bremard, ABIES, AgroParisTech, France

• "Alternative approaches toward agriculture and energy nexus thinking: historical, geographical and political processes of socio-‘techno’-nature interactions" by Hiromi Inagaki, Department of Geography, National University of Singapore

• "The politics of water policy making process in Indonesia" by Tanaporn Nithiprit, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

• "Industrialization and water quality in Rayong Province, Thailand: are international, national and local water management strategies complimentary or contesting?" by Wipawadee Panyangnoi, GRID Program, Chulalongkorn University

Discussants:

• Dipak Gyawali, Nepal Academy of Science and Technology

• Dr. Takeshi Ito, Graduate Program in Global Studies, Sophia University, Japan

To register for this event, please send and e-mail to  CU Graduate Student Seminar Series at cugradseminar@gmail.com.

UPCOMING EVENT: Book Launch 'Unpacking the Water-Food-Energy "Nexus" in Asia: Power, Politics and Justice' [Bangkok, 21 May 2019]

Tuesday 21 May 2019, 10.00 - 12.00 at Alumni Meeting Room, 12th Floor, Kasem Utthayanin Building (อาคารเกษม อุทยานิน), Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand (guide to the venue here)

The ‘nexus’ of relations between water, food and energy is often seen as a technical matter in public policy, addressing issues of risk, security or economics. In this public seminar, the speakers will discuss their new book on the water-food-energy nexus that challenges some of these underlying assumptions to show that at the very heart of the nexus arise questions about resource politics, ethics, and justice. The public seminar will encourage an interdisciplinary debate on the implications for natural resource policy, including for Asia’s major river basins such as the Ganges and Mekong.

Read more details about the book here, and download an open access chapter.

Speakers:

• Dipak Gyawali, Nepal Academy of Science and Technology

• Jeremy Allouche, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex (by Skype)

• Carl Middleton, Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

Discussants:

• Dr. Takeshi Ito, Graduate Program in Global Studies, Sophia University

• Dr. Supawan Visetnoi, Chulalongkorn University School of Agricultural Resources (CUSAR)

Chair:

• Dr. Kasira Cheeppensook, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

This event will be broadcasted on Facebook Live: www.facebook.com/CSDSChula/

To register for this event, please e-mail us your name, organisation, and position to  Anisa Widyasari (CSDS) at communications.csds@gmail.com. The seat is limited and registration will be accepted on first come first served basis.

UPCOMING EVENT: "Demarcating public and private in land and environmental governance in the Mekong Region" [Kyoto, 19 April 2019]

Seminar by:

Emeritus Professor Philip Hirsch, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney and CSEAS Visiting Research Scholar

Dr. Carl Middleton, Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

Moderator: Dr. Xiaobo Hua, CSEAS, Kyoto University

12:00 - 13:00, Friday 19th April 2019

Tonan-tei (Room no. 201), 2nd floor of Inamori Foundation Memorial building, Center for Southeast Asia Studies (CSEAS), Kyoto University

Abstract:

In this presentation we take a critical look at the context-determined demarcation between the public and private spheres in the realm of land, natural resources and environmental governance in the Mekong Region. We explore the generation of plural meanings of “public” and “private” through development projects and policies, and the implications that such meanings hold for: the actor configurations and power relations that shape how collective and individual interests are defined; how claims to ownership of resources are formulated and legitimized; the spaces within which projects can be debated, contested and governed; and ultimately how benefits, costs and risks are distributed across society. Hydropower dams and large scale land concessions set the context in which we examine these issues.

UPCOMING EVENT: "Why Money and Disequilibrium Matter to Economics" [Bangkok, 14 March 2019]

Public Lecture by Professor Steve Keen

Honorary Professor, University College London Institute for Strategy, Resilience & Security (UCL ISRS) Distinguished Research Fellow, Crowdfunded Professor of Economics on Patreon

Thursday 14 March 2018, 10.00 - 12.00 at Alumni Meeting Room, 12th Floor, Kasem Utthayanin Building (อาคารเกษม อุทยานิน), Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand (guide to the venue here)

Economist (or as he prefers, anti-economist) Steve Keen joins us to unveil the role of money in economics and how the idea of equilibrium leads us astray. He will also explain what it means to have become the crowdfunded Professor of Economics, and why most of the things many people, within and outside academia, believe about the world of economics, finance and business are simply wrong.

Awarded the Revere Prize for most accurately forecasting the Global Financial Crisis, Professor Keen remains the leading global expert on the role of money, finance and debt in the modern world, from Australia’s property bubble, through to the list of countries he describes as the Walking Dead of Debt.

He is currently working on his 'magnum opus', writing articles and publishing podcasts, including breakthrough work on the role of energy use in economic development, while also trying to debunk financial myths in the comic book format of ‘e-CON-comics’.

Discussants:

• Emeritus Professor Dr. Suthiphand Chirathivat , Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University

The event will start at 10 am, and the registration is open from 09.30 am.

For more information and to RSVP, please send an e-mail to communications.csds@gmail.com.

UPCOMING RESEARCH FORUM: "Powering up Sustainable Development for Asia: The Future of Global and Regional Investment in Asia’s Energy Sector" [Bangkok, 25 January 2019]

09.00 - 17.00, Friday, 25th January at Alumni Meeting Room, 12th Floor, Kasem Utthayanin Building (อาคารเกษม อุทยานิน), Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

Co-organized by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V., Chatham House, and Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

Renewable energy technologies not only help to mitigate climate change by substituting for carbon-emitting fossil fuels, but also can expand energy security by avoiding exposure to the volatility of fossil fuel markets. Renewables can also help provide cheap and reliable energy to areas where grid-based provision is unreliable or otherwise prohibited by geography or high costs. The increased efficiency and renewable nature of such energy can improve energy availability, energy security and economic resilience.

Last year saw the second highest level of investment in global clean energy, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), at US$333.5 billion, despite falling technology costs. Globally, the solar sector in China dominated, with a total of $132.6 billion of investments – leading to over 50 GW of additional solar capacity. In regional terms Asia, largely China, continued to dominate the global landscape. According to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), Chinese sustainable energy investment oversees has doubled in the last three years and now stands at $44 billion. 

The importance of the accelerated deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency is also reflected in UN Sustainable Development Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, and it is a central goal for many countries in Asia. It is also increasingly an important focus for, and aspects of, countries’ and institutions investments in Asia.

China has put emphasis on the green ‘Belt and Road’ and 'South-South environmental cooperation', for example. In Myanmar, a Chinese government partnership with a Beijing-based environmental NGO pledged to provide US$2.9 million worth of solar panels and clean cook stoves. Leading Japanese companies are also looking overseas for opportunities in the renewable energy sector, including in India. Aid programs from a range of countries, including the US, Japan and Korea are also seeking to support sustainable energy transition.

Civil society groups and communities are also calling for – and working directly towards – an energy transformation across the region, including promoting decentralized electricity generation, energy efficiency, demand side management, and more participatory power planning processes. Countries across Asia also have a great deal of their own experience to draw on in promoting renewable energy that serves the needs of the poor.

The workshop aims to:

• Assess the role of clean energy in Asia’s goal to develop sustainable energy that serves the needs of the poor;

• Consider the place of renewables in overseas aid and investments strategies in Asia, including in China’s Belt and Road Initiative;

• Address whether learning across different regional contexts on the implementation of cost-effective, reliable clean energy might bring benefits for clean energy development.

• Create a network of interested experts who can develop further research proposal(s) and collaboration on these topics.

 Key outcomes of the events will be:

• Sharing lessons on how clean energy enhances both energy security and climate change mitigation;

• Enhanced understanding of the importance of Asian, and in particular Chinese, sustainable energy investment in the global market;

• Examining how and where Asian countries can draw on both good and bad experiences of their own and other countries’ energy and development policy with regard to sustainable energy that serves the needs of the poor; and,

• Develop plans for the creation of a network with an understanding of the opportunities for common research and activities.

Program and List of Panelists:

08.30 - 09.00  Registration

09.00 - 09.15  Welcome remarks 

• Dr. Ake Tangsupvattana, Dean, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

• Dr. Sam Geall, Chatham House

• Dr Peter Hefele, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

09.15 - 10.45  Panel 1: Trends and Emerging Opportunities

Chair: Dr. Carl Middleton, CSDS, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

• “Energy Transition Pathways for the 2030 Agenda in Asia and the Pacific” by Hongpeng Liu, Energy Division, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

• “Energy Trading in Thailand” by David Martin, Power Ledger, Australia/Thailand

• “A Power Sector Vision for the Greater Mekong Region“ by Shannon Siyao Wang, World Wildlife Fund

• “Energy transformation and the role of civil society in Thailand” by Suphakit Nuntavorakarn, Healthy Public Policy Foundation, Thailand

10.45 - 11.15 Tea Break

11.15 - 12.45  Session 2: Aid and investment agendas supporting an energy transition

Chair: Dr. Champa Patel, Asia-Pacific Programme, Chatham House, London

• “How EU development cooperation can support the energy transition” by Jerome Pons, Delegation of the European Union to Thailand

• “Role of business and private actors in the process of low-carbon transformation in China” by Dr. Wei Shen, Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, United Kingdom

• ‘'Climate finance and the sustainable energy transition in Asia” by Yossef Zahar, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)/IGES

12.45 - 13.45 Lunch

13.45 - 15.15 Session 3: Enhancing Energy Sector Investments in Asia: Assessment and Inclusive Decision Making

Chair: Ellen Kelly, Department for International Development (DFID), UK

• “Transforming Southeast Asia’s electricity sector through Impact Assessment” by Dr. Decharut Sukkumnoed, Faculty of Economics, Kasetsart University

• “Towards Strengthening Environmental and Social Safeguards in Southeast Asia” by Matthew Baird, Asian Research Institute for Environmental Law and Visiting Scholar, Vermont Law School

• “Environmental Assessment in Energy Projects in Myanmar: Civil societies experience and recommendations” by Pyi Pyi Thant, Heinrich Böll Stiftung

15.15 - 15.45 Tea Break

15.45 - 17.15 The Way Ahead: Realizing opportunities for sustainable electricity transformation

Chair: Dr. Jakkrit Sangkhamanee, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

• “Hydropower vs other renewables in the Greater Mekong region: Ensuring the resilience of Asian Deltas” by Marc Goichot, World Wildlife Foundation

• “Green Jobs and Energy Transition in Southeast Asia” by Chariya Senpong, Climate and Energy Campaigner for Greenpeace Southeast Asia

• “Lessons learned from China’s solar boom, and implications for Asia” by Dr. Sam Geall, Chatham House

• “Off-grid solutions in rural Myanmar: Innovation in technology and approach” by Nathalie Risteau, Yoma Mandalay

17.15 - 17.30 Wrap-up and Closing Remarks

• Dr. Champa Patel, Asia-Pacific Programme, Chatham House, London

• Dr. Carl Middleton, CSDS, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

To register for this forum, please e-mail us your name, organisation, and position to  Anisa Widyasari (CSDS) at communications.csds@gmail.com. The seat is limited and registration will be accepted on first come first served basis.