in Mohali, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL

Asia Business Climate Reporter

Ghosal covers the intersection of business and climate change in southeast Asia for The Associated Press. He is based out of Hanoi in Vietnam.
A worker surveys Vo Van Van's rice fields after spraying fertilizer over the fields using a drone in Long An province in southern Vietnam's Mekong Delta, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. Using less water and using a drone to fertilize are new techniques that Van is trying and Vietnam hopes will help solve a paradox at the heart of growing rice: The finicky crop isn't just vulnerable to climate change but also contributes uniquely to it. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
In Vietnam, farmers reduce methane emissions by changing how they grow rice
Vietnam aims to transform its rice sector, making it more resilient to climate change while also reducing its emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide.
 
Apple CEO Tim Cook, left, shakes hands with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi, Vietnam on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. The tech giant CEO is on a visit to Vietnam to promote cooperation and boost investment in the Southeast Asian nation. (Duong Van Giang/VNA via AP)
Apple CEO says that he wants to increase investments in Vietnam
Apple CEO Tim Cook said Tuesday that he wants to further increase investment in Vietnam a day after the company announced it would spending on suppliers in the Southeast Asian manufacturing hub.
 
A woman reacts as a bucket of water is splashed on her during the Songkran water festival to celebrate the Thai New Year in Prachinburi Province, Thailand, Saturday April 13, 2024. It's the time of year when many Southeast Asian countries hold nationwide water festivals to beat the seasonal heat, as celebrants splash friends, family and strangers alike in often raucous celebration to mark the traditional Theravada Buddhist New Year. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Water guns are in full blast to mark Thai New Year festivities despite worries about heat wave
It’s water festival time in Thailand where many are marking the country’s traditional New Year, splashing each other with colorful water guns and buckets in an often raucous celebration that draws thousands of people, even as this year the Southeast Asian nation marks record-high temperatures causin
 
Business woman Truong My Lan, center, attends a trial in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on Thursday, April 11, 2024. The real estate tycoon may face the death penalty if convicted of allegations that she siphoned off an amount of $12.5 billion, nearly 3 percent of Vietnam's 2022 GDP, in its largest financial fraud case. (Thanh Tung/VnExpress via AP)
Real estate tycoon’s death sentence is a turning point in Vietnam’s anti-corruption campaign
Real estate tycoon Truong My Lan’s death sentence is a pivotal moment in Vietnam’s anti-corruption drive.
 
Business woman Truong My Lan attends a trial in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on Thursday, April 11, 2024. The real estate tycoon may face the death penalty if convicted of allegations that she siphoned off an amount of $12.5 billion, nearly 3 percent of Vietnam's 2022 GDP, in its largest financial fraud case. (Thanh Tung/VnExpress via AP)
What to know about the real estate tycoon sentenced to death in Vietnam’s largest fraud case
A Vietnamese real estate tycoon has been sentenced to death in the country’s biggest ever financial fraud case.
 
Business woman Truong My Lan, front center, attends a trial in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on Thursday, April 11, 2024. The real estate tycoon may face the death penalty if convicted of allegations that she siphoned off an amount of $12.5 billion, nearly 3 percent of Vietnam's 2022 GDP, in its largest financial fraud case. (Thanh Tung/VnExpress via AP)
Vietnam sentences real estate tycoon Truong My Lan to death in its largest-ever fraud case
A Vietnam court has sentenced real estate tycoon Truong My Lan to death in the country’s largest financial fraud case.
 
FILE - Vatican Secretary of State Paul Richard Gallagher speaks during a press conference to present a document on the 5th anniversary of Pope Francis' encyclical "Laudato si" (Praise Be) calling on the world to act to stop the human destruction of the planet, at the Vatican's press room, on June 18, 2020. The Vatican's top diplomat began a six-day visit to Vietnam on Tuesday, April 9, 2024, as part of ongoing efforts to normalize relations between the two sides. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)
Vatican’s top diplomat begins a 6-day visit to Vietnam aimed at normalizing relations
The Vatican’s top diplomat has begun a six-day visit to Vietnam as part of efforts to normalize relations with the communist nation.
 
Vu Dang Yen Hang, chief executive officer of VinFast Thailand, smiles in front of its electric vehicle "VF7" during the 45th Bangkok Motor Show in Nonthaburi, Thailand, Tuesday, March 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Vietnamese automaker VinFast to start selling EVs in Thailand
Vietnamese automaker VinFast plans to sell its electric vehicles in Thailand. It has partnered with several dealers to open showrooms in Bangkok and other cities.
 
Workers sort and grade coffee beans at a coffee factory in Dak Lak province, Vietnam, on Feb. 1, 2024. New European Union rules aimed at stopping deforestation are reordering supply chains. An expert said that there are going to be "winners and losers" since these rules require companies to provide detailed evidence showing that the coffee isn't linked to land where forests had been cleared. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)
How EU deforestation laws are reordering the world of coffee
New European Union rules aimed at protecting dwindling forests are reordering how the world gets its coffee.
 
FILE - Vietnam's Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan listens during a working lunch with Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in Oslo, on Nov. 23, 2023. Xuan will serve as acting President after former President Vo Van Thuong resigned, after a little over a year in the position, amid an intense anti-corruption campaign, according to party mouthpiece Tuoi Tre. (Emilie Holtet/NTB Scanpix via AP, File)
Vietnam’s vice president becomes interim president
A Communist Party newspaper says Vietnam’s Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan will be acting president after the previous president’s resignation.
 
FILE - Vietnam's President Vo Van Thuong addresses the media during a joint press conference with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida after their meeting at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong resigned after a little over a year in the position, state media VN Express reported. His resignation takes place amid an intense anti-corruption campaign that has hit the highest echelons of the Communist Party. (Richard A. Brooks/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong resigns amid anti-corruption campaign
The Communist Party says Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong has resigned after a little over a year in the job.
 
Nguyen Thi Thuy, a vendor who sells steamed buns on a floating market, paddles her boat in Can Tho, Vietnam, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. On good days she makes about $4 — hardly enough to put food on the table. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
In Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, the lure of moving to the city grows even stronger amid climate shocks
The lure of the city has always been strong for the poor in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. Millions have moved from the mostly agricultural region to big cities like Ho Chi Minh City for factory jobs that offer them a chance to get ahead.
 
Vietnamese real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, front center, is escorted into a courtroom in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam, Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Lan faces the death penalty in a trial that began Tuesday over alleged fraud amounting to $12.5 billion, nearly 3% of the country’s 2022 GDP. (Phan Thanh Vu/VNA via AP)
A Vietnamese property tycoon accused of embezzling $12.5 billion begins her trial
Real estate tycoon Truong My Lan faces the death penalty for allegedly embezzling $12.5 billion. Her arrest is part of Vietnam’s anti-corruption campaign that started 2016 but gained momentum in 2022 with several high-profile arrests of corporate executives and state officials.
 
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., right, and Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong inspect honor guards during a welcome ceremony in Hanoi, Vietnam Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. Marcos is on a visit to Hanoi to boost the bilateral relation with the fellow Southeast Asian nation. (Hoang Thong Nhat/VNA via AP)
Philippines and Vietnam agree to expand cooperation in South China Sea, which Beijing also claims
The Philippines and Vietnam have signed agreements to avoid incidents in the South China Sea and broaden cooperation between their coast guards.
 
A couple view the skyline of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Jan. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
In Vietnam, vibrant Ho Chi Minh City is a magnet that pulls in millions
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (AP) — From the sky, the sprawling Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam appears to erupt from the green expanse of the riverine delta that surrounds it.
 
In this photo released by VinFast, Indonesian President Joko Widodo sits behind the wheel of a VinFast electric car as Vingroup Chairman and VinFast Global CEO Pham Nhat Vuong, right, looks on in Hai Phong, Vietnam on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. (VinFast via AP)
Indonesia’s president visits Vietnam’s EV maker Vinfast and says conditions ready for a car plant
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has visited Vietnamese automaker VinFast’s factory and said that he would create the necessary conditions for the multinational to be able to build a plant and invest in Indonesia quickly.
 
Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong, left, and Indonesian President Joko Widodo inspect honor guards in Hanoi, Vietnam on Friday, Jan. 12, 2024. Widodo is on a three-day visit to Hanoi to boost the bilateral relation with the fellow Southeast Asian nation. (AP Photo/Huy Han)
Indonesia and Vietnam discuss South China sea and energy issues as Indonesian president visits
Indonesia and Vietnam agreed to cooperate on fisheries on Friday as Indonesian President Joko Widodo met Vietnam’s President Vo Van Thuong on Friday.
 
FILE - A Vinfast VF6 is displayed at the AutoMobility LA Auto Show Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022, in Los Angeles. Vietnamese automaker Vinfast agreed on Saturday, Jan. 8, 2024, to invest up to $2 billion into building an electric vehicle factory in southern India’s Tamil Nadu state.(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
Vietnam’s VinFast to build a $2 billion EV plant in India as part of its global expansion
Vietnamese automaker VinFast plans to spend up to $2 billion to build an electric vehicle factory in India, the world’s third-largest auto market by sales.
 
FILE - Workers are seen in Ninh Binh Power Plant, which is a coal fired power plant to supply electricity, in Ninh Binh Province in Vietnam, on Sept. 19, 2007. A plan for how Vietnam will spend $15.5 billion to transition to cleaner energy has been finalized and will be announced at the COP28 climate conference, which begins in Dubai next week. (AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki, File)
Vietnam’s plan for spending $15.5 billion for its clean energy transition to be announced at COP28
A plan for how Vietnam will spend $15.5 billion to transition to cleaner energy has been finalized and will be announced formally at the COP28 climate conference, which begins in Dubai next week.
 
Abba Usman sells granulated sugar at his shop inside a market in Abuja, Nigeria, Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. The same 50-kilogram (110-pound) bag of sugar that Usman bought a week ago for $66 now costs $81. As prices rise, his customers are dwindling. (AP Photo/Chinedu Asadu)
Sugar prices are rising worldwide after bad weather tied to El Nino damaged crops in Asia
Sugar prices are soaring in many places. That’s largely due to production shortfalls in key exporters India and Thailand that are partly blamed on the El Nino. The U.N.
 
Lkhaebum's son, Agvaantogtokh, chooses a horse to ride as he prepares for the journey to move the family's two hundred horses to new grassland in the Munkh-Khaan region of the Sukhbaatar district, in southeast Mongolia, Saturday, May 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Mongolia’s herders fight climate change with their own adaptability and new technology
SUKHBAATAR, Mongolia (AP) — For millennia, herders in Mongolia and their animals have lived and died together in the country’s vast grasslands, slowly shaping one of the last uninterrupted ecosystems of its kind.
 
A solar farm is seen next to Donggou village near Shijiazhuang city in the northern China's Hebei province, Friday, Nov. 10, 2023. To meet the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), nine major Asian economies must increase the share of electricity they get from renewable energy from the current 6% to at least 50% by 2030, according to a report by a German thinktank released Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Asian economies must ramp up wind and solar power to keep global warming under 1.5C, report says
A German thinktank has reported that to prevent global warming from surpassing the critical threshold of 1.5 Celsius, major Asian economies must ensure they can get half of their total electricity from renewables by 2030.
 
Vinfast CEO Le Thi Thu Thuy holds up a miniature model of a Vinfast car in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Sept. 29, 2023. Vietnamese automaker Vinfast has plunged right into the crowded and hypercompetitive U.S. auto market, gambling that if it can sell its electric vehicles to finicky Americans, it can succeed anywhere. So far, that gamble has yet to pay off. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)
Vietnam’s Vinfast committed to selling EVs to US despite challenges, intense competition
Vietnamese automaker Vinfast has plunged right into the crowded and hypercompetitive U.S. auto market, gambling that if it can sell its electric vehicles to finicky Americans, it can succeed anywhere.
 
Meera Devi, left, accompanies her daughter Arima, 7, to her school as they walk on the flood plain of Yamuna River, in New Delhi, India, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. Their family was among those displaced by the recent floods in the Indian capital's Yamuna River. Storms, floods, fires and other extreme weather events led to more than 43 million displacements involving children between 2016 and 2021, according to a United Nations report. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Millions of children are displaced due to extreme weather events. Climate change will make it worse
A United Nations report says that storms, fires and other extreme weather events led to more than 43 million displacements involving children between 2016 and 2021.
 
Timothy Kinyua unloads sacks of onions from Ethiopia at an open market in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. Restrictions on the export of the vegetable by neighboring Tanzania has led prices to triple. The prices for onions from Tanzania were the highest in seven years, Kinyua said. Some traders have adjusted by getting produce from Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Food prices are rising as countries limit exports. Blame climate change, El Nino and Russia’s war
Restrictions on food exports are spilling over from rice and wheat to other essentials. This ranges from Tanzania’s limits on shipping onions to its neighbors and Morocco’s restrictions on tomatoes to ongoing bans of some kinds of rice in Asia.
 
Power lines are seen near a power plant near Dengkil on the outskirt of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Sept. 11, 2023. The urgency for Southeast Asian nations to switch to clean energy to combat climate change is reinvigorating a 20-year-old plan for the region to share power.(AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Climate change and the shift to cleaner energy push Southeast Asia to finally start sharing power
The urgency for Southeast Asian nations to switch to clean energy to combat climate change is breathing new life into a 20-year-old plan for the region to share power.
 
Vietnam detains energy policy think-tank chief, human rights group says
Vietnam has detained the director of a think tank that works on energy issues in the country. A human rights group, The 88 Project, said she was the sixth expert working on environmental and climate issues that police have taken into custody in the past two years.
 
Rescue workers carry a person on stretcher out of a building on fire in Hanoi, Vietnam Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. Authorities said "many" people had been killed after a fire broke out in the apartment block. (Pham Trung Kien/ VNA via AP)
Fire in Vietnam’s capital kills at least 56 when it engulfs an apartment building
Authorities say a fire in a nine-story apartment building in Vietnam’s capital has killed at least 56 people, including at least four children, while an additional 37 people are being treated for injuries.
 
Vendor Francis Ndege measures rice at his stall in the Toi Market, Nairobi, Kenya on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023. Countries worldwide are scrambling to secure rice after a partial ban on exports by India cut global supplies by roughly a fifth. Now, Ndege isn’t sure if his customers in Africa’s largest slum can afford to keep buying rice from him. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
A rice shortage is sending prices soaring across the world. And things could get worse
Countries worldwide are scrambling to secure rice after a partial ban on exports by India cut global supplies by roughly a fifth.
 
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sits on a scooter while visiting a factory assembling electric scooters in Hanoi, Vietnam on Thursday, July 20, 2023. The U.S. considers building strong economic and security ties with Vietnam a priority, Yellen said as she met with Vietnamese officials in a visit aimed at fortifying America's relations across Asia. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)
Yellen visits Vietnam, seeking to build US ties and supply chains, and offset tensions with China
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has told top Vietnamese officials that Washington considers building strong economic and security ties with Vietnam a priority.
 
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