Junta Boss Drops Green Bombshell; Goes Plane-Crazy Over Dollar Shortage; and More

In a stunning display of irony, junta leader Min Aung Hlaing marked World Environment Day on Thursday (June 5), urging citizens to take responsibility for environmental conservation. His remarks came as parts of Kachin State in northern Myanmar were hit by flooding.

Yet, his four-year-old regime has overseen one of the most destructive environmental records in Myanmar’s modern history.

Decades of military rule have ravaged Myanmar’s ecosystems, with forests stripped bare, minerals extracted at reckless rates, and natural resources sold off to secure successive juntas’ grip on power. The environmental consequences of this plunder have been severe: deadly annual flooding and landslides, storms, record heatwaves, and growing pollution of air and water are taking a heavy toll on a population already suffocated by civil war and economic hardships.