Understanding water, climate and nature in Asia
A snow leopard, Nobuo Matsumura
icon/64x64/nature Nature

Snow leopards hit by lack of joint database on poaching and trafficking

Scattered data is complicating efforts to protect snow leopards against illegal trade, as shown by examples from Uttarakhand, in northern India

Latest news

COP26 President Alok Sharma fights back tears as he apologises to delegates for the last-minute watering down of the Glasgow climate pact’s language on eliminating coal power (Image: Jane Barlow / Alamy) Article
climate talks

COP26: Key outcomes from a ‘fragile win’

Tonle Sap Lake, Alamy Article
Fisheries

Another poor wet season endangers Cambodia’s biggest lake and its people

roadbuilding groundwater water spring Himachal Pradesh India Article
Water shortage

Springs are drying up across Himachal Pradesh

A 2011 protest by indigenous communities in Delhi to manage their lands Opinion
Land rights

Opinion: To save its forests, India needs local solutions, not greenwashing

Shrimp are weighed at Fishery Ghat market in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh Article
climate impacts

How Bangladesh’s shrimp industry is driving a freshwater crisis

A roof in Ahmedabad being painted with solar-reflective paint as a sustainable cooling solution Article
Climate adaptation

5 sustainable solutions to help tackle extreme heat in South Asia

Protest at COP26. Protest outside the COP26 venue in Glasgow drawing attention to the limited representation of civil society from the Global South and indigenous communities. (Disha Shetty) Article
activism

COP26 disappoints young people from developing countries

Negotiators on the final day of COP26 in Glasgow, 13 November, Image Kiara Worth UN Climate Change Article
Energy transition

After COP26: India’s crucial decade

COP26 Protest by Extinction Rebellion in Glasgow, Scotland Article
cop26

Large compromises overshadow small successes at COP26

Reyan Sofi at Hokersar Wetland Video
wetlands

‘There’s no water, and no birds’ – mourning the Queen Wetland of Kashmir

Solar panels in Zanskar, Ladakh, India Article
solar

The promises and pitfalls of India’s plan for a global grid

yarlung tsangpo canyon Article
conservation

Could the Yarlung Tsangpo canyon be China’s next big national park?

Top stories

  1. Large compromises overshadow small successes at COP26
  2. The promises and pitfalls of India’s plan for a global grid
  3. While negotiators wrangle at COP26, South Asia chokes in toxic air
  4. ‘We don’t believe in net zero at the moment’ – Pakistan’s top climate official at COP26
  5. Opinion: Pakistan’s Diamer Bhasha dam is neither green nor cheap
  6. ‘There’s no water, and no birds’ – mourning the Queen Wetland of Kashmir
Explore The Third Pole’s coverage of the COP26 climate summit Read here

Highlights

1 MW solar power station in Delhi, India. solar will be an essential part of India's plans to implement the net zero by 2070 target. Article
cop26

Beyond net zero by 2070: India’s new climate pledges explained

While the net-zero pledge has dominated headlines, experts say India’s near-term targets for decarbonisation are worthy of attention and cautious optimism
Imran Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan Opinion
cop26

Comment: Pakistan commits to halving emissions, but pins success on finance

Ambitious mitigation actions and afforestation are at the heart of Pakistan’s Nationally Determined Contribution presented to COP26, but political continuity and climate finance remain key to implementation
A woman on a train in Janakpur, Nepal, Leonid Plotkin Article
carbon emissions

Nepal’s climate action plan: progressive on paper only

Updated Nationally Determined Contribution set out plans to reduce emissions and electrify railways, but the gap between ambition and implementation is growing
Bangladesh wind farm Kutubdia energy COP26 Article
cop26

Bangladesh pitches for climate-sensitive growth

South Asian nation bets on gas as a bridge fuel in its updated Nationally Determined Contribution, to enable leap from low- to high-income country by mid-century
Video

Uranium mine in Kyrgyzstan spreads pollution for 53 years

In southern Kyrgyzstan, residents too poor to buy water are forced to get their drinking water from a river still laced with radioactive chemicals from a mine that was closed half a century ago

Pipes pump sand dredged from the Mekong River onto an area of land being reclaimed for property development on the outskirts of the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh (Image © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom)
Pipes pump sand dredged from the Mekong River onto an area of land being reclaimed for property development on the outskirts of the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh (Image © Thomas Cristofoletti / Ruom)
Photo story

Is Cambodia’s thirst for sand putting communities and the Mekong at risk?

The Cambodian government is embarking on a number of ambitious development projects, which critics say come at the expense of the environment and people’s livelihoods

Editorial Series

The struggle to save Asia’s wildlife The struggle to save Asia’s wildlife 10 Articles
Science

New frogs and pandas: How genetics can aid conservation in the Himalayas

The team from Thanamir village on the way to set up camera traps to monitor wildlife in the community forest, Ramya Nair
conservation

Interview: Indigenous-led conservation in Nagaland preserves rare wildlife

White-bellied heron in Bhutan
endangered species

World’s rarest heron on the brink in its last Himalayan stronghold

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The Third Pole is a multilingual platform dedicated to promoting information and discussion about the Himalayan watershed and the rivers that originate there.

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China Dialogue is an independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting a common understanding of China’s environmental challenges.

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Diálogo Chino is the only independent journalism platform dedicated to better understanding the China-Latin America relationship and its sustainable development challenges

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China Dialogue Ocean is a bilingual platform dedicated to illuminating, analysing and helping to resolve our ocean crisis.

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