The Philippine’s Eastern Visayas islands of Samar and Leyte bore the brunt of Typhoon Haiyan as it made landfall in November 2013, leaving in its wake a trail of destruction affecting 14 million people. The record-breaking typhoon that created a storm surge of up to 19 feet caused more than six thousand deaths, damaged over one million homes, and displaced over four million people. The economy and people’s livelihoods were also not spared.

In December 2015, recognising the need for an effective and progressive response to climate change, the world’s leaders came together to commit to a landmark agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Southeast Asia is home to some of the world’s fastest expanding economies, with a combined economy about the size of the United Kingdom’s (UK’s) or US$2.6 trillion. Armed with a younger, urbanised and more affluent consumer base, the region continues to grow at a phenomenal pace. In 2017, the regional gross merchandise value (GMV) of first-hand goods surpassed US$10 billion, up from US$5.5 billion in 2015.

For the more or less 10 million people living in Thailand’s capital city of Bangkok, flooding is a common and recurring phenomenon. This is partly due to the city’s geographic location at the southern end of the Chao Phraya River Basin, as well as its low-lying terrain of around 1.5 metres average elevation above mean sea level. The city normally experiences six months of rainy season every year from May to October. However, conditions are soon expected to worsen for much of Bangkok.

The watery fields of vibrant green dotted with lotus pink provide a contrast to the paddy fields in the rural commune of My Hoa in southern Vietnam. For the communities surrounding the iconic lotus lakes, the flower is a gift that keeps on giving. The lotus plant provides seeds, pods, rhizomes and stems to be eaten or sold as food. The picturesque ponds attract tourists by the thousands, who often take boat rides, or indulge in the countryside dishes served at local restaurants.

The renewable energy sector in Southeast Asia has progressed by leaps and bounds. From the harnessing of biomass to the use of water in generating electricity, there is room for tremendous economic growth as well as the obvious positive of caring for an ailing environment.

One day in 1961, an American economist named Daniel Ellsberg stumbled across a piece of paper with apocalyptic implications.

After a decade of declining numbers of hungry people, the world is now witnessing a reversal of this positive trend. Consistent for the last three years, the reversal has led to an increase in the absolute number of people affected by undernourishment or chronic food deprivation globally. In 2017, the number of hungry people rose to 821 million, from around 804 million in 2016, almost the same as the number in 2010. This is despite a reduction recorded within the same period.

The United States (US), despite withdrawing from a landmark accord aimed at curbing climate change, is stonewalling vital United Nations (UN) talks over how to fund poorer nations as they battle against global warming, multiple sources told AFP on Saturday.US President Donald Trump caused global outrage by announcing the US would withdraw from the Paris Accord, but the decision cannot formally take effect until at least 2020 and Washington has vowed to take part in climate negotiations to pro

Pork is an important source of protein in Vietnam. It represents more than 72.6 percent of meat produced in the country and provides livelihoods on small farms for more than four million people. The country’s improving standards of living and lifestyle changes has driven the increase in demand for meat with pork production reaching 29 million tonnes in 2016.