Greater Mekong Subregion Environmental Performance Assessment 2006–2016

This environmental performance assessment examines the consequences of rapid development in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), characterizing natural resource and environmental issues and how well the countries have responded to them. The assessment covers the period 2006–2016. During this period the GMS Core Environment Program supported country efforts to address the subregion’s natural resources and environmental management challenges with its goal of creating an “environmentally friendly and climate-resilient GMS Economic Cooperation Program.”

The environmental issues covered by the assessment are air, biodiversity and habitats, climate change, fish, forests, land degradation, solid waste management, and water resources. Although pressures continued to be consistently medium to high for all issues during 2006–2016, the overall state of the environment was generally satisfactory and stable. Individual country responses were largely sustained, but more substantive actions are necessary to address persistent pressures.

The assessment was conducted by the GMS Environment Operations Center, using the driver–pressure–state–impact–response model.