Major expansion in the Greater Mekong Subregion power sector will bring added environmental and social pressures, and more attention needs be paid to incorporating greater sustainability into the power planning process.

Strategic environmental assessments may be used to compare different energy scenarios, and a more sustainable power plan can be developed by incorporating the wider impacts considered during the assessment process.

Sustainable development encompasses environment, social, and economic dimensions and a wide range of possible indicators could measure the changes in the degree of protection against danger, damage, or loss.

Investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency generate benefits to society as a whole that cannot be fully reflected in investment returns, leading thereby to underinvestment by the private sector.