Environment

In the Greater Mekong Subregion, 200 million people in rural areas depend on their surrounding environment for food, water, energy, and income. Forests, wetlands, mangroves, farmlands, and other ecosystems account for between 20% and 55% of the subregion's wealth.

The Working Group on Environment (WGE) provides overall leadership and direction for the subregion's Core Environment Program.

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Natural ecosystems – and the food, water, energy, and other vital elements they provide – lie at the heart of the development of the Greater Mekong Subregion. How these natural resources are protected, managed, and enhanced will determine the long-term sustainability of its environment and economic development.

Overexploitation of natural resources, pollution, vulnerability to climate change, and ever-increasing natural disasters are threatening these ecosystems. In addition, environmental degradation is posing risks to sustained long-term growth, and could cost a whopping $55 billion in foregone services over the next 25 years if left unchecked.

Unless there is better planning and management, the subregion’s resource-intensive development approach could lead to food shortages, price shocks, health hazards, and environmental damage that impact thousands of families and put businesses at risk.

The GMS Economic Cooperation Program Strategic Framework 2030 (GMS-2030) will focus on improving environmental sustainability and climate change resilience in the subregion. Environment and climate change challenges will be addressed through green technologies; protection of ecosystems and key ecological processes; climate resilience policies; and disaster-risk management, all of which will recognize the essential role that communities play as stewards of natural resources. A systematic effort will be made to mainstream climate change considerations into all GMS interventions, with a focus on energy efficiency, renewable energy, climate-smart landscapes, and sustainable waste management, particularly in terms of healthy ocean and river systems, and the tackling of plastic pollution. GMS-2030 was endorsed and adopted at the 7th GMS Summit of Leaders in September 2021. It aims to provide a new setting for the development of this subregion for the next decade.

The Core Environment Program Strategic Framework and Action Plan 2018-2022 was endorsed by GMS ministers at the 5th GMS Environment Ministers' Meeting in Chiang Mai, Thailand, held on 30 January – 1 February 2018. The 5-year environment strategy focuses on green technologies and sustainable infrastructure, natural resources and ecosystem services, and climate resilience and disaster risk management.

The GMS Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability Program (GMS CCESP), the third and current phase of the GMS Core Environment Program, supports environmental cooperation and green investments in the GMS. It covers six priority themes that were identified during the 24th Annual Meeting of the GMS WGE in 2019: (a) building climate and disaster resilience; (b) facilitating low carbon transitions; (c) promoting climate-smart landscapes; (d) enhancing environmental quality through pollution control and sustainable waste management; (e) deploying digital technologies for climate actions and environmental sustainability; and (f) financing low-carbon and climate-resilient infrastructure and technologies, including demonstrating climate and disaster risk financing instruments. The GMS CCESP builds on the achievements and lessons from the first two phases of the GMS Core Environment Program, and runs until 2025.

The GMS Core Environment Program was designed to help countries in the GMS meet the increasing demand for food, energy, water, and other natural resources, while at the same time ensuring that resources are available for future generations. This included balancing rapid growth with sustainable practices, and protecting vital water resources, controlling floods, preserving biodiversity and critical ecosystems, and mitigating the impacts of urban expansion.

Related

• Summary of Proceedings

• GMS CCESP Newsletters

• GMS Core Environment Program website

• Greater Mekong Subregion Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability Program (Brochure)

Contact Persons

Focal Persons at the Asian Development Bank

  • Srinivasan Ancha 
    Climate Change, Resilience, and Environment Cluster
    Climate Change and Sustainable Development Department

  • Mark Bezuijen 
    Agriculture, Food, Nature, and Rural Development Sector Office
    Sectors Group

Other Concerned Staff & Consultants

  • Alvin Lopez 
    Agriculture, Food, Nature, and Rural Development Sector Office
    Sectors Group

  • Renalyn Asuncion Padilla
    Agriculture, Food, Nature, and Rural Development Sector Office
    Sectors Group

  • Asadullah Sumbal 
    Regional Cooperation and Integration Unit
    Southeast Asia Department

  • Rafaelita Jamon 
    Regional Cooperation and Integration Unit
    Southeast Asia Department/GMS Secretariat

Send inquiries to GMS SAFSP Secretariat and GMS Secretariat. 

Phnom Penh Joint Statement on Prevention of Plastic Pollution in the Greater Mekong Subregion

In a milestone moment for GMS-wide environmental collaboration, the representatives of the GMS ministries of environment pledged to work together to address the mounting issue of plastic waste pollution in the subregion. The endorsed Phnom Penh Joint Statement on Prevention of Plastic Pollution in the Greater Mekong Subregion represents the commitment of the six countries to address the ecological, economic, and societal challenges posed by plastic waste in the GMS. 

GMS 2030 Strategic Framework for Accelerating Climate Action and Environmental Sustainability

The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) remains on a strong path towards economic growth and poverty reduction. The economic progress in the GMS is largely driven by the region’s rich natural resources and innovative societies. While these assets have sustained the increasing demand for food, energy, and commodities, unsustainable resource extraction and development are depleting the natural capital resulting in the decline and degradation of ecosystem services and environmental quality.


October 2024 | Issue 5

With 2024 slowly nearing its end, we are delighted to welcome you to the fifth issue of the Greater Mekong Subregion Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability Program newsletter. As delegates from the GMS countries prepare for the highest-level forum of the GMS Program - the 8th GMS Leaders' Summit to be held in Kunming on 6 November - we look back upon a year bustling with activity, important international meetings and workshops, and new knowledge products developed.



6th Greater Mekong Subregion Environment Ministers’ Meeting – Online Meeting Agenda

 

The 6th Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Environment Ministers' Meeting (EMM6) is hosted by the Kingdom of Cambodia and will be attended by the Environment Ministers and senior officials of the GMS countries; representatives from development partner organizations (DPs), civil society organizations and the private sector; and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) officials.

December 2023 | Issue 4

Welcome to the fourth issue of the Greater Mekong Subregion Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability Program newsletter! 2023 is coming to a close, ale we are pleased to share with you a recap of activities and events over the past six months, announce the upcoming publications, and invite you to the exciting lineup of capacity building workshops that will take place in the first half of 2024. 



Great strides were made in bringing power to the people by innovative policies, new technologies, and increased financing, but the region is unlikely to reach energy access targets by 2030. . Photo credit: ADB.

Post-Pandemic, Asia is Falling Short on Electricity Access and Switch to Renewables

Despite welcome progress on universal access to electricity, the transition to renewable energy is faltering at a time when multiple shocks are hitting Asia and the Pacific hard.