Eco-Business

Nepal’s conservation laws prohibit commercial harvesting of rhododendrons from community forests without approval, but legal ambiguity over privately cultivated flowers has left officials uncertain about how to enforce existing rules.

Small-scale farmers who underpin Thailand’s lucrative natural rubber industry are under pressure to prepare for the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), due to take effect at the end of the year.

Wearing breathable textiles like cotton is becoming a form of heat adaptation, but for many Dalit families, they remain out of reach.

An office worker uses an AI bot for his project

As AI adoption grows, companies face mounting pressure to address the technology's trilemma of environmental footprint, workforce disruption and inequality risks, experts say.

By Elodie Toto

By Ahmad H Ramdhani

By Alok Gupta

By Geela Garcia, Sally Jabiel

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The need for massive upfront investments and the likelihood of significant job displacement imply remarkable parallels between the AI buildout and the green transition. In both cases, the state has an important role to play in guiding market forces on behalf of the public good. By Gernot Wagner and Adam Michael Bauer

As Laos prepares to graduate from the United Nations’ least developed country category, the bigger challenge is no longer escaping poverty but building a future defined by clean space and green growth. By Anoulak Kittikhoun

The vast minority of middle-income countries graduate to high-income status. Past strategies that prioritised physical capital must give way to a quality of growth approach premised on investment in human and natural capital. By Vinod Thomas

If the war in Iran does not end soon, the Malaysian government must have more arrows in its energy policy quiver. By Firdausi Suffian

By Mohammad A Rahman

By Aradhana Narang and A J Shaiju

By Hossain Ahmed Taufiq and Jonas Gamso

By Vinod Thomas and Jayant Menon

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EB Studio As Malaysia forges ahead with its 2050 net zero climate ambition, businesses must reshape their supply chains for a low carbon future. This Eco-Business video looks at how SMEs can adapt to new sustainability reporting requirements.

A coalition of scientists and environmentalists found “widespread economic impacts” for communities in the Philippine province, heightening calls for accountability from the sunken tanker reportedly chartered by a San Miguel Corp subsidiary.

Mining operations at Altai Philippines Mining Corporation have been suspended for now, after week-long protests from locals of Sibuyan Island in Romblon, who claimed the extraction of nickel ore will disrupt the island’s intact ecosystems.

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Trash piled high at the Bantar Gebang landfill in Bekasi, near Jakarta.

The head of waste management non-profit Ocean Recovery Alliance tells the EB Podcast that recycled content mandates will drive the circular economy better than caps on virgin plastic production. Brands should be pressured more than petrochemical producers to phase out unnecessary plastics, he says.

The sea-level rise expert has moved to Hong Kong – now seen as a gateway to more collaboration with China on climate science. But he tells the EB Podcast that data from US agencies is still critical for calculating climate defences in Asia.

In celebration of Indigenous Peoples' month in the Philippines, the former United Nations special rapporteur tells the Eco-Business Podcast about her lifelong work to empower communities in Asia’s most dangerous country for environmental defenders.

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