It’s not just the Amazon: Indonesia urged to stop deadly fires
Kuala LumpurThomson Reuters Foundation Indonesia must increase funding to detect and tackle forest fires quicker and enforce conservation laws to avoid another major haze crisis, a United Nations official said on Wednesday, as fears mount over the climate impacts of rainforest losses. Indonesia and its South-East Asian neighbours are regularly hit by thick smog from […]
Southern Asians unaware of deadly health risks from polluted air
Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaThomson Reuters Foundation Most people in South and South-East Asia do not know about the diverse causes and long-term health risks of air pollution, a problem that kills 1.5 million people in those regions each year, researchers warned on Thursday. A study by Vital Strategies, a public health advisory group, analysed more than […]
POLLUTION: ASIA’S COAL ADDICTION PUTS CHOKEHOLD ON ITS AIR-POLLUTED CITIES
With air pollution killing about seven million people prematurely worldwide every year, MICHAEL TAYLOR, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how worsening air pollution in Asian cities is contributing to the problem…
Asia ride-hailing giant trains drivers to fight human trafficking
Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaThomson Reuters Foundation South-East Asia’s largest ride-hailing firm Grab said on Monday it is to train its millions of drivers to spot victims of human trafficking in one of the world’s worst hit regions. Businesses around the world are under increased pressure to tackle human trafficking, which affects more than 40 million people […]
How forgotten local plants could ease malnutrition in East Timor
Thomson Reuters Foundation The Australian owners of a restaurant in East Timor are hoping to use their passion for the local cuisine to combat malnutrition in the tiny South-East Asian nation. East Timor has Asia’s worst rates of child malnutrition, with more than 50 per cent of children suffering from stunting – a condition that […]
ESSAY: IT STARTS WITH ME
ADRIAN ROWSE, founder of Australia’s Ping Pong-A-Thon – which aims to raise funds for efforts to counter sex trafficking, says addressing the issue of human trafficking starts with all of us…
Rising heat will chill poor countries’ economies, costing billions
Thomson Reuters Foundation Rising temperatures in a warming world will cost poor countries tens of billions of dollars annually as they are less able to keep their workers cool, analysts said on Thursday. Over the next 30 years, manual labourers in the agriculture, mining, oil and gas, and manufacturing sectors – which are the most […]
Australia vows to fight trafficking for orphanage tourism in South-East Asia
Thomson Reuters Foundation Australia is cracking down on so-called orphanage tourism to prevent trafficking of children in South-East Asia, trying to tame demand from tourists wanting to do good, top politicians said on Monday. Children in countries such as Cambodia are taken from their homes and put into orphanages to attract donations and support from […]