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.
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.
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BANGKOK, THAILAND (11 December 2012) – The Government of Sweden today committed $8.3 million for a second phase of the Core Environment Program and Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative (CEP-BCI), an Asian Development Bank (ADB) administered program helping the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) achieve environmentally-friendly economic growth.
MANILA, PHILIPPINES (7 November 2012) - The Asian Development Bank and Australian Agency for International Development will provide an $87.39 million package of loans and grants to help Lao People's Democratic Republic and Viet Nam pair infrastructure upgrades with community-based disaster risk management and enhanced regional forecasting to improve flood and drought preparedness in the Greater Mekong Subregion.
The 7th Semi-Annual Meeting of the Working Group on Environment (WGE AM-18) was held in Beijing, People’s Republic of China (PRC). The meeting was hosted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), with support from the Greater Mekong Subregion Environment Operations Center (EOC). The major objectives of the meeting were to (i) report on Core Environment Program and Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative’s (CEP-BCI) activity status and component strategies, (ii) discuss CEP-BCI implementation, and (iii) discuss related programs.
The Eighteenth Meeting of the Working Group on Environment (WGE AM-18) was held in Jinghong, Yunnan, People’s Republic of China (PR China). The meeting was hosted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, PR China, with support from the Greater Mekong Subregion Environment Operations Center (EOC).
BANGKOK, THAILAND (20 February 2012) - The management of food, water and energy resources in the Greater Mekong Subregion will be the most critical challenge of the coming decade, requiring careful balance of economic and environmental interests and better management of natural resources, a conference on the future of the region heard today.
BANGKOK, THAILAND (17 February 2012) – Policy-makers from the Greater Mekong Subregion will meet in Bangkok next week to discuss the challenges and opportunities for balancing economic growth with environmental sustainability.
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA (4 August 2011) - Countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) are poised to move the GMS Economic Cooperation Program into a second generation of initiatives over the next 10 years.
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA (1 August 2011) – Representatives of the Greater Mekong Subregion countries reaffirmed their continued support for regional cooperation on biodiversity conservation and environmental management.
The Third Greater Mekong Subregion Environment Ministers Meeting (EMM-3) was held in the Presidential Peace Building in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 28 July, 2011.
Based on the theme of “Sustaining Natural Resources for Green and Inclusive Growth”, the meeting aimed to reaffirm mutual recognition of common environmental concerns important to the GMS and to generate recognition, commitment and support by GMS countries to tackle these concerns through regional cooperation in particular through the GMS Economic Cooperation Program.
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA (26 July 2011) - Environment ministers of the six Greater Mekong Subregion countries are expected to decide on the program framework for continued regional environmental cooperation when they hold the 3rd GMS Environment Ministers’ Meeting on 28 July.