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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.

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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.

These 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.

To address these issues, the six GMS countries are partnering to protect and enhance their natural capital through the GMS Core Environment Program with the vision of a poverty-free and ecologically rich subregion.

The program is administered by the Asian Development Bank and overseen by the GMS Working Group on the Environment, made up of representatives of the GMS environment ministries. The work is coordinated by the GMS Environment Operations Center, which is hosted by ADB’s Thailand Resident Mission.

With support from this program, countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion are working to 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 includes 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.

At the 5th GMS Environment Ministers' Meeting in Chiang Mai from 30 January to 1 February 2018, the ministers endorsed the Core Environment Program Strategic Framework and Action Plan 2018-2022.

Related

• Summary of Proceedings

• GMS Core Environment Program website

Contact Persons

Focal Persons at the Asian Development Bank

  • Srinivasan Ancha
    Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Division,
    Southeast Asia Department
  • Pavit Ramachandran
    Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Division,
    East Asia Department

Other Concerned Staff & Consultants

  • Rhodora Concepcion
    Thailand Resident Mission,
    Southeast Asia Department
  • Rafaelita Jamon
    Regional Cooperation and Operations Coordination Division,
    Southeast Asia Department/GMS Secretariat

Send inquiries to GMS Secretariat.

Journal of Greater Mekong Subregion Development Studies - December 2008

In this issue of the Journal of Greater Mekong Subregion Development Studies, we feature five articles that concern some of the more pressing issues of cooperation in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) - trade facilitation and trade logistics, the trade impact of cross-border transport infrastructure, tourism corridor development, and biofuels and rural renewable energy. The diversity of the topics tackled in this volume reflects the multifaceted challenges of regional cooperation.


Serials

2nd Annual Meeting of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Environment Ministers

The Second GMS Environment Ministers Meeting (EMM-2) was held in Don Chan Palace Hotel in Vientiane, Lao PDR on 29 January 2008. The overall theme of the meeting was “Sustainable Natural Resource Use for Economic Competitiveness.”

The meeting took stock of achievements of the GMS Core Environment Program (CEP) since its inception last April 2006 and discussed emerging environment, conservation and poverty reduction issues such as climate change, global warming and their effects on socio-economic growth and development.


Conference Proceedings

2nd Semi-Annual Meeting Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Working Group on Environment (WGE SAM 2)

The GMS Working Group on Environment 2nd Semi-Annual Meeting (WGE SAM-2) was held on 28 November 2007 via videoconference at ADB resident missions in Cambodia, PRC, Lao PDR, Thailand, Viet Nam and ADB Headquarters as the host. WGE representatives from Myanmar extended their apologized for not being able to attend the meeting. The participants list is attached as Appendix 1. It was recognized that it was the first time videoconferencing was tried for a WGE meeting and some basic meeting rules were established to enable a smooth discussion.


Conference Proceedings

Twelfth Meeting of the Working Group on Environment (WGE-12): Summary of Proceedings

The Twelfth Meeting of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Working Group on Environment (WGE-12) was held in Bangkok, Thailand on 25-26 April 2006. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) of Thailand hosted the meeting in cooperation with the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The participants included delegations from Cambodia, the People's Republic of China (PRC), Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Observers/resource persons from MFLU, IGES, UNCRD, UNEP, SEI, SIDA, USAID, US EPA, The Netherlands Government, MRC, IUCN, WWF, and ADB also attended.