Bhutan has increased exports of surplus hydropower generation, whereas Nepal has been suffering from domestic power shortages. Why has Bhutan successfully promoted hydropower development and exports, while Nepal has failed to do so? This paper focuses on inherent development barriers that stem from domestic power supply, internal governance systems, and indigenous societal sensitivity. There are lessons to be learned from Bhutan’s practices that could be applied in Nepal. First, hydropower development can be severely affected by electricity scarcity that arises when power export is privileged over domestic power supply. Nepal has fallen into this negative loop, whereas Bhutan has overcome it through policy interventions that ensure visible links between power exports and domestic power consumption. Second, the sector reforms in the two countries contrast in terms of institutional, operational, and financial efficiency. Without fundamental reforms, Nepal’s sector-wide inefficiency fuels a vicious circle. Third, local resource conflicts and social complexities have made Nepal’s hydropower projects more complicated than Bhutan’s. In planning hydropower projects, it is crucial to pay careful attention to domestic stakeholders and local benefits. Planners and governments must ensure that projects are designed with extensive benefit sharing mechanisms, sustainable value chains, effective sector reforms, and sufficient societal conflict management.

This paper examines six case studies of resettlement of villagers covering seven dams, namely the Ikawa Dam, Jintsu Dams and Miyagase Dam in Japan, the Koto Panjang Dam and Bili-Bili Dam in Indonesia, and a final comparative study of the Saguling Dam in Indonesia and the Kotmale Dam in Sri Lanka. The studies underline the need for adequate institutional arrangements that incorporate medium- and long-term perspectives on resettlers' livelihoods, and for the long-term commitment of governments or developers to ensure livelihood restoration. The establishment of a development agency as the authority for regional development in resettlement areas is another approach for dealing with institutional and implementation problems. Finally, the factor of resettlers' emotions must also be considered.

Atoll countries in the Pacific, namely Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, and Tuvalu, will become sources of climate migrants in the foreseeable future. This study aimed to examine if people in these atoll countries were, are, or will be ready to successfully relocate to foreign countries by re-establishing their lives and livelihoods in a new environment. An international collaborative research project was launched and implemented from 2017 to 2019. Case studies were conducted in Micronesia, Kiribati, and the Marshall Islands as the origin of climate migrants and in Fiji and the USA as their destination. It was found that a number of legal tools and practical policy measures are available for countries to alleviate the struggles of environmental migrants, despite the lack of a comprehensive legal framework that protects environmental migrants by allowing them to move to other countries. In addition, 65% of the college and university students in the Marshall Islands indicated education as their primary reason to migrate abroad, followed by work (15%), health (8%), family (7%), climate change (3%), and natural disasters (2%). The ratios of students who wished to migrate because of climate change were similar between the Marshall Islands (3%) and Micronesia (4%), despite the fact that the former is an atoll country and the latter is mostly composed of “high-lying islands.” As for the migrants from the Marshall Islands and Micronesia to the USA, climate change was revealed to be a contributing factor for some in their decision to migrate, and more so as a factor for not returning home. It was also found that education had more influence than religion or culture on people’s perception of climate change and its implications in the Marshall Islands and Kiribati. The policy implemented in Vienna, Austria was proved to be effective in avoiding the emergence of society and culture-bound mental illness, which is inherent to large, isolated ethnic communities.

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Central Asian countries struggled to reach an agreement on the use of their shared fresh water resources. The conflict between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan regarding construction of the Rogun Hydropower Plant in the Amu Darya Basin seems deadlocked at present, despite copious efforts made by donor agencies. Therefore, this paper examines each country’s position using the numbers featured in the media.

This study aims to quantitatively find the influence of religion, culture and education on the perception of climate change, and its implications. A survey was carried out, with students of a college and a university in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and a university in Kiribati answering a questionnaire. It emerged that education has more influence than religion or culture on people’s perceptions of climate change and its implications, both in the RMI and Kiribati. It is interesting because the two countries are not homogeneous in terms of history, culture and religion. Another surprising finding was that seemingly contradictory ideas (e.g., no flooding in the future as stated in the Bible, compared with the perceived sea level rise) exist in the minds of the majority of the respondents, both in RMI and Kiribati. Having conflicting ideas in one’s mind may delay one taking action to cope with climate change and its implications.