Green energy's unseen toll on our river systemsListen to this articleAt global climate forums, the clean energy transition is framed as progress --necessary, urgent, and inevitable. As minerals move downstream for processing and refining, their origins become harder to trace, while pollution remains embedded in shared river systems that downstream communities must live with. This spending does not restore rivers or stop pollution upstream. This creates layered transboundary harm: pollution originating upstream, compounded by domestic risks from processing and residual waste. Under the polluter pays principle, responsibility must extend to remediation -- restoring river systems, rehabilitating abandoned mines, and supporting affected people.

Source: Bangkok Post January 13, 2026 00:13 UTC