China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has given rise to two broad concerns within the international community. It has been criticized for funding environmentally unsustainable energy and infrastructure projects around the world, and it has been accused of catching developing countries in a “debt-trap.”

In this episode of the NOVAsia Podcast, editor-in-chief Joel Petersson Ivre and Senior Editor Josh Doyle sit down with Amanda Herath, PhD-candidate at Yonsei Graduate School of International Studies, to discuss her recent NOVAsia article on the wider environmental implications of the BRI. They also discuss the way in which China’s economic statecraft has influenced her home country of Sri Lanka.

Read more: Is the Belt and Road Paved with Green Intentions?