Events

GMS Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security Program (SAFSP): The proposed TA will build on accomplishments of the two phases of the Core Agriculture Support Program and support the implementation of Strategy for Promoting Safe and Environment-Friendly Agro-Based Value Chains in the GMS and Siem Reap Action Plan, which was endorsed by the GMS Agr...

The 24^th Annual Meeting of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Working Group (WG) on Environment reviewed the achievements of the GMS Core Environment Program Phase II and discussed the way forward. WGE AM-24 was hosted by the People’s Republic of China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) with support from ADB through the GMS Environment ...

Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Climate Change and Environment Sustainability Program (CCESP): The proposed knowledge and support technical assistance (TA) on CCESP will build on the key achievements of two phases of the Core Environment Program and support the implementation of the GMS Core Environment Program Strategic Framework and Action Plan 2018-2022, which was endorsed at the Fifth GMS Environment Ministers’ Meeting held in 2018. The CCESP will focus on creating enabling conditions to leverage additional investment in priority areas such as (i) green technologies and sustainable infrastructure; (ii) natural resources and ecosystem services; and (iii) green growth, climate resilience and disaster risk management.

To assess current status of application of digital technologies in four areas:

1.Sustainable agriculture

2.Food traceability

3.Climate action (mitigation and adaptation)

4.Environmental sustainability

To solicit views from the ...

Environment ministers from the six GMS countries gathered in Chiang Mai, Thailand on 1 February 2018 to review the Core Environment Program’s (CEP) progress and achievements and endorse its new Strategic Framework and Action Plan, 2018-2022.

On 31 Jan, regional development partners discussed potential areas of collaboration under the Core Environment Program’s Strategic Framework and Action Plan, 2018–2022 and drafted statements to present to enviroment leaders at the 5th GMS Environment Ministers' Meeting.

Every 3 years the environment ministers from the six Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries gather to review progress and set the agenda for environmental cooperation in the subregion under the GMS Economic Cooperation Program.

The forum aimed to identify barriers and opportunities, including for financing and technologies, to scale up green growth approaches in the GMS.

The 23rd Annual Meeting of the GMS Working Group on Environment reviewed Core Environment Program achievements and challenges during 2016 and discuss progress and priorities for CEP Phase III planning.

This workshop brought together environment and other GMS officials with international experts to explore green growth opportunities in the subregion.

Topics included:

• Green Growth Opportunities in the GMS: Setting the Context
• Environmental Technological Innovation
• Promoting a Transition Toward a Green Economy
• Financial Innovation

The ...

At this Roundtable, the edited version of the Watershed-scale Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment guidelines will be reviewed.

Environment officials from the six GMS countries met in Jinghong, PRC, to share biodiversity conservation experiences and to plan initiatives for increased cooperation in transboundary areas.

Under the theme "Discover GMS - Asia’s Natural Hub," the Greater Mekong Subregion Working Group on Agriculture is organizing a pavilion, chef shows, coffee and tea demonstrations, and two policy forum events at THAIFEX-World of Food Asia 2017.

A forum for decision makers and experts to deliberate and draft guiding principles for planning, designing and financing climate-resilient and ecologically sound transport infrastructure.

This two-day workshop was the first in a series of three events that will feed into the 5^th GMS Environment Ministers’ Meeting, scheduled for early 2018.

Led by the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam’s Natural Capital Platform aims to integrate natural capital considerations into development planning.

Local authorities, forest owners, and development partners met to initiate a new project to develop and test an M&E framework for payments for environmental services in Quang Nam and Thua Thien Hue provinces.

This two-part workshop brought together government and private sector transport sector representatives to discuss the results, challenges and opportunities of the Core Environment Program’s GMS Green Freight Initiative.

This workshop brought together members of the GMS land-use change modeling network to share project results and develop proposals for future work.

The third and final workshop in CEP’s training module on integrating climate change adaptation into local planning focused on identifying and implementing adaptation options.

Information on how future development may unfold is essential for land use change modeling.

Key stakeholders overseeing Cambodia’s National Environmental Strategy and Action Plan (NESAP) met to review the latest draft in preparation for its submittal to the government for approval.

With the first joint knowledge product on Watershed-scale Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment guidelines now finalized, this 12^th Roundtable event will discuss a dissemination plan and capacity building plan.

This workshop will look at how Thailand's first biodiversity conservation corridor - in the Western Forest Complex - has made a difference to biodiversity and local livelihoods over the past decade. 

More than 100 government planners and development partners shared experiences on how multicriterial spatial analysis (MCA) using GIS can help decision makers with environmental management.

Vietnamese government officials and development partners met to discuss arrangements to formalize a Natural Capital Platform (NCP).

This training workshop was the second in a series of three that aim to build the capacity of government planners in the GMS to work with communities to integrate climate change adaptation into local level development planning.

Government officials from Cambodia and Thailand met to look at ways to increase biodiversity conservation cooperation in border areas of the Cardamom and Elephant Mountains landscape.

A draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was tabled for discussion, outlinin...

Viet Nam is in the process of developing an Environmental Protection Planning (EPP) Circular to improve environmental management within the country. This workshop aimed to build stakeholder awareness of environmental protection and planning and draws on international and national best practice and experience.

Following up on similar trainings delivered in Siem Reap and Sihanoukville in late 2015, this 3-day workshop trained 48 provincial authorities on how to commission, design, review, and report on EIA documents.

A Green Freight and Logistics Day was held as a pre-event to the 9th Better Air Quality Conference in Buson, South Korea, to highlight green freight intiatives in Asia and key lessons and opportunities for future scaling up.

This workshop was the first in a series of three that aim to build the capacity of government planners in the GMS to work with communities to integrate climate change adaptation into local level development planning.

The aim of this national workshop is to present and gather feedback on the first draft of Cambodia's National Environmental Strategy and Action Plan (NESAP).

The 13th Annual Meeting of the GMS Working Group on Agriculture (WGA AM-13) is hosted by Viet Nam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

This 22nd Annual Meeting of the GMS Working Group on Environment (WGE AM-22) was hosted by Viet Nam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in cooperation with the GMS Environment Operations Center (EOC).

Government officials, international experts, and private representatives from Southeast Asian countries met in Bangkok for two days to develop a regional agenda to scale up ‘green freight’ in the region.

Since 2005, responsibility for dealing with the environmental review of projects less than $2million has been delegated to Cambodia’s Provincial offices.

Provincial authorities will have a key role in implementing policies and programs that stem from Cambodia's National Environmental Strategy and Action Plan (NESAP). This 2nd consultation workshop bought together government officials from the country's n...

The GMS Core Environment Program hosted a session on strategic environmental assessment (SEA) at the 36^th Annual Conference of International Association of Impact Assessment.

Provincial authorities will have a key role in implementing policies and programs that stem from Cambodia's National Environmental Strategy and Action Plan (NESAP).

At this meeting, the Inter-Ministerial Task Force will review and comment on key draft chapters of Cambodia's National Environmental Strategy and Action Plan (NESAP).

The objective of the second meeting of the National Environmental Strategy and Action Plan Inter-ministerial Task Force  was to present, discuss and obtain comments on draft Chapter One of the NESAP (Brief Introduction) and Chapter Two (State of Environment).

This workshop brought together more than fifty international experts and government staff to review current PES initiatives in Cambodia and identify implementation lessons and experience as well as enabling policy conditions.

Partners at the 10^th Roundtable reviewed their recently drafted guidelines for watershed/landscape-scale vulnerability and adaptation assessments. They also discussed how the guidelines could be effectively disseminated, including the potential of developing training modules.

More than 200 government and non-government participants attended this Myanmar event which saw the launch of a new Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Procedure and National Environmental Quality (Emissions...

This 2-day workshop brought together government and international organization representatives to share experiences, information, tools, and discuss collaborative opportunities to improve the sustainable management of important landscapes in the GMS.

A major challenge in promoting investments in natural capital is to produce solid evidence on the economic value of ecosystem services and ensure this evidence informs development planning and investment decisions.

Government and development partners met in Kunming to discuss current work and future priorities to strengthen transboundary collaboration for the Mekong Headwaters transboundary landscape under the CEP-led GMS Forest and Biodiversity Regional Support Project.

Hosted by Thailand’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the 10th Semi-Annual Meeting of the GMS Working Group on Environment (WGE) brought together WGE members with representatives from the Asian Development Bank and development partners to review implementation progress of the Core Environment Program and to discuss key priorities.

During the Ninth Roundtable meeting, partners reviewed draft chapters of the watershed and landscape-scale vulnerability and adaptation assessment guidelines, which will become a joint knowledge product produced by the partners.

The aims of the National Environment Strategy and Action Plan (NESAP) Inception Workshop are to inform, and generate collaboration, participation and consensus among stakeholders in the formulation process of the NESAP. 

Building on the seventh roundtable held in June, partners at this eighth roundtable discussed analytical tools for assessing basin-scale climate change vulnerability and looked at the processes involved and lessons learnt from application in the GMS. 

During 2014, CEP worked with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s Pollution Control Department to estimate provincial industrial emissions by applying the Industrial Pollution Projection System (IPPS).  

Under CEP’s ‘Building Capacity for Land Use Change Modeling activity,’ a training of trainers program on land use change modeling will be delivered in each of the six GMS countries during August–October.

Building on discussions held during the GMS Working Group on Environment 21^st Annual Meeting, this workshop aims to map out the future of the Core Environment Program and Environment Operations Center. 

This knowledge event, jointly held by the GMS Working Groups on Environment and Agriculture, explored means to develop more inclusive and sustainable agricultural value chains in the GMS.

Hosted by Thailand’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the 21^st Annual Meeting of the Working Group on Environment (WGE) brought together WGE members with representatives from the Asian Development Bank and development partners to review implementation progress of the Core Environment Program implementation and to discuss key priorities.

At this seventh roundtable, partners continued deliberations initiated at the sixth roundtable in April. These included joint visioning to specify the long-term goals of the roundtable and identifying collaborative activities arising from the Watershed Adaptation to Climate Change (WACC) Project.

Addressing the many development and environmental challenges in the GMS will require finding ways for sectors to plan and work together more closely. Multisector planning approaches contribute greatly to strategic planning processes by bringing sectors together to discuss and understand core development challenges and to identify pathways to overcome these challenges. In doing so, they promote economic, environmental, and social sustainability. Multistakeholder dialogues and scenario-based modelling tools are essential to develop a shared understanding of core challenges, drivers of change, and alternative development pathways.

With the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) expiring, 2015 is a crucial year to further progress the global framework for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) launched at Rio +20 in 2012.

The CEP-supported Roundtable meetings have become a platform for development organizations with active adaptation programs in the GMS to share knowledge, brainstorm approaches, and engage in an ongoing dialogue. 

Following the first consultation workshop in early January, the 2nd stakeholder consultation workshop to revise Myanmar’s draft Environmental Quality (Emission) Guidelines was held in Yangon. 

This formal gathering of ministers aimed to build a shared understanding among government and non-government environment leaders on key natural capital issues and solutions. During the meeting, the GMS Natural Capital Partnership considered and the closed door session provided a platform for Ministers to give directions and discuss approaches for addressing environment issues faced by the GMS. The 3-days of events concluded with the release of the Joint Ministerial Statement, which  is expected to provide political support and direction for increasing investments in natural capital, driven by the WGE, and with continuing support from the Core Environment Program.

Increasing Investments in Natural Capital in the Greater Mekong Subregion

The Natural Capital Dialogue brought together senior GMS government officials, international experts and a wide range of stakeholders to discuss the significance of natural capital in the context of inclusive and sustainable development in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). Occurring ahead of the 4^th GMS Environment Ministers’ Meeting (EMM4), the Natural Capital Dialogue presented an important opportunity to draw public and business sector attention to the need to increase investments in the Subregion’s natural capital.

Theme: Investing in Natural Capital is Investing in Youth

Overview

As emphasized in the Future We Want outcome document from Rio+20, youth are “custodians of the future” and have an essential role in helping achieve sustainable development. If engaged and empowered, GMS youth have the potential to drive the changes needed to ensure a sustainable future for their own and future generations. 

Every three years, environment ministers from the six Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries gather to take stock of environment challenges and opportunities, and set the direction for regional responses under the GMS Economic Cooperation Program.

Theme: Designing mechanisms and building partnerships for the strategic planning and management of transboundary and other biodiversity landscapes

Overview

Biodiversity landscapes constitute a large proportion of the natural capital remaining in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). They are a rich repository of globally important biodiversity, including many endemic and endangered species, and provide vital ecosystem services. This wealth of natural capital underpins the subregion’s security in terms of energy, food, and water. Seven of these landscapes cut across international borders. These transboundary biodiversity landscapes (TBLs), which are the focus of the GMS Core Environment Program, lie in juxtaposition to the GMS economic corridors, providing both challenges and opportunities for their effective management and conservation.

Theme: Investing in Natural Capital: Public Private Cooperation for Future Prosperity in the Greater Mekong Subregion

Overview

The Fourth GMS Environment Ministers’ Meeting emphasized the need to strengthen collaboration between governments, development partners, business sector, and civil society in order to find ways to maintain and enhance the region’s natural capital stocks. A key step was the need to strengthen collaboration and coordination between businesses, government, and/or civil society in ways that are demonstrably good for business, local livelihoods and for the protection and enhancement of the subregion’s natural capital. In this context the Natural Capital Business Forum engaged the businesses in their capacity as a beneficiary of public sector investments as well as the investors in economic activities associated with natural capital.

In continuation of CEP support to strengthen Myanmar’s environmental safeguards system, a stakeholder consultation workshop was held in Yangon to seek feedback on the country's Draft Environmental Quality (Emission) Guidelines. The guidelines will support the country's emerging environmental impact assessment (EIA) system by specifying the environmental thresholds that must projects should not exceed.The guidelines will be finalized based on feedback from the workshop and are expected to come into effect during the next few months. The guidelines will be used as interim measure while the country develops National Environmental Quality Standards during the next few years.

Looking forward to the Fourth GMS Environment Ministers Meeting (EMM4) and identifying roundtable collaboration priorities in 2015

At the fourth roundtable , partners identified the natural capital themed EMM4, scheduled for January 2015, as a key opportunity to influence environment leaders and policy makers. 

The Core Environment Program (CEP) ensured green freight issues were high on the agenda at the BAQ-EST conference, which brought together more than 1000 participants under the theme ‘Next Generation Solutions for Clean Air and Sustainable Transport.

Hosted by Myanmar’s Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry, the 9th Semi-Annual Meeting of the Working Group on Environment (WGE SAM-9) brought together WGE members, ADB representatives and development partners to review the Core Environment Program’s 2014 progress and discuss upcoming priorities.

This CEP technical workshop on strengthening partnerships to increase natural capital investments in the GMS brought together government and development partners to jointly discuss the merits and potential shape of a GMS Natural Capital Partnership.

The final review meeting on PRC of Yunnan Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (YBSAP) was held in Kunming, Yunnan, PRC, from 6-8 November.

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is increasingly used by GMS countries to assess the environmental and social consequences of policies, plans and programs to achieve more sustainable development outcomes.

The National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) will undertake a case study on assessing climate change vulnerability and adaptation options in a ridge-to-reef setting that can serve to strengthen national and regional knowledge on appropriate assessment methodologies. The proposed site of the case study is the Sirindhorn International Environmental Park (SIEP) and its environs in Petchaburi Province.  A partnership arrangement has been established between the NRCT and the United States Forest Service (USFS) to undertake part of this work.

More than 120 representatives from environmental protection authorities in Yunnan were trained on how to implement Yunnan Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Action Plan (YBSAP). The training was organized by Yunnan Environmental Protection Department (YEPD) with support from ADB.

Rural communities throughout the world are seizing new opportunities to build livelihoods based on emerging niche markets that rely on and contribute to the sustainable management of natural resources. These include small, but growing markets for ecotourism and also non-timber forest products (NTFPs) including herbs, honey, and mushrooms, bamboo, rattan, medicines, and cosmetics.

Collaboration with Roundtable Partners on the Fourth GMS Environment Ministers Meeting (EMM4) and the Regional Investment Framework (RIF)

At this fourth roundtable, partners discussed opportunities to raise the profile of climate change issues among environment leaders in the GMS and to ensure that environmental considerations are better integrated into the GMS Regional Investment Framework’s (RIF) $50 billion project pipeline.

This workshop launched a new CEP activity aiming to strengthen land-use modeling capacity in the GMS, targeting government planners and academic institutions.

Since 2011, Viet Nam’s payments for forest environmental services (PFES) program has generated $140 million for rural households to protect around 4 million hectares (40%) of the country’s forests.

EOC representatives were among eighty participants from nine countries that gathered in Jakarta to exchange best practices in land cover and land use assessments, and discuss strategies for building national land cover datasets.

CEP progress in Viet Nam during 2014 and plans for 2015 were the topic of a workshop in Hanoi held on Tuesday 19 August. Around forty participants attended, including government agriculture, environment, energy and planning officials, and international development partners from FAO, GIZ, JICA and Winrock.

Bridging the Divide: Linking Science-based Adaptation Approaches and Climate Change Policy-making in the GMS

This third in a series of roundtable discussions bought together climate change experts and government officials to discuss how climate change adaptation science can better inform policy making in the GMS.

On 29–30 May, representatives from more than 13 countries, including from the GMS, met in Ha Noi, Viet Nam to exchange experiences and innovative ideas on how to integrate natural capital into development decisions.

With support from the Core Environment Program, the Government of Viet Nam hosted a consultation workshop to introduce and gather feedback on a proposed strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of the country’s revised national power development plan (PDP VII).

Government and international organization representatives attended a two-meeting organized by EOC to explore collaboration opportunities for improving the management of Transboundary Biodiversity Landscapes (TBLs) in the GMS.

Overview

This training is a five-day intensive program designed to enhance understanding of energy and transport practitioners on issues and challenges which arise from climate change. It is a collaborative learning program in partnership with GMS Phnom Penh Plan (PPP) for Development Management.

Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar

The GMS Working Groups on Agriculture and Environment (WGE, WGA) held a joint knowledge event and their respective annual meetings in Nay Pyi Taw on 25 and 26 March.

This workshop was organized within the context of a UN ESCAP project entitled “Pro-poor and sustainable solid waste management in secondary cities and small towns”. As part of this project, ESCAP ...

ADB and the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry (MOECAF) co-hosted a 2-day seminar in Nay Pyi Daw on 10 and 11 February to raise awareness about environmental and social safeguards.

Key development partners and programs working in the GMS met to share information and discuss areas of collaboration on climate change initiatives in the region. The meeting, hosted by EOC, was used to...

This three-day conference held in Chiang Rai was organized by the Asia-Pacific Adaptation Network to facilitate discussion and share lessons about climate change adaptation, resilience and urban biodiversity in Southeast Asia.

A workshop to synergize landscape and livelihood activities between CEP and the Biodiversity Conservation Corridors project (BCC) in the provinces of Quang Nam, T.T. Hue and Quang Tri was held in Hue, Viet Nam. The workshop, which included provincial and central government representatives, aimed to raise awareness about the biodiversity conservation pilot projects conducted during CEP Phase I and to discuss how planned activities under CEP Phase II can align with ongoing BCC work.

An Asian Judges Network on Environment was officially launched at the Second Asian Judges Symposium on Environment to be held in Manila, 2 to 5 December.

The Global Forum on Natural Capital was organized to attract business and sustainability leaders around the globe to discuss the value of natural assets (clean air, clean water, forests) and progress with factoring ...

The 4^th Joint Committee Meeting for the Greater Mekong Subregion Cross-Border Transport Agreement was held in Yangon, Myanmar on 21-22 November 2013.

Chief justices from the region met last week to explore legal responses to pressing environment issues such as cross border threats from climate change, pollution, deforestation and the illegal trade in wildlife and timber.

The GMS Working Group on Environment (WGE) met on 30 October 2013 in Champasak, Lao PDR, to review CEP implementation progress and endorse the 2014 work-plan. Also discussed were the GMS Regional Investment Framework environment pipeline and preliminary concept and preparatory work for the 4th GMS Environment Ministers’ Meeting. 

The Core Environment Program (CEP) supported Viet Nam’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources to host the regional workshop: “Mainstreaming ecosystem-based approaches to climate change into biodiversity conservation planning in Viet Nam.”

The Core Environment Program supported the conference “Valuing and Accounting for the Environment in the Asia Region,” which looked at how environmental values can be incorporated into national accounting systems.

The Asia Low Emissions Development Strategies (LEDS) Forum aims to facilitate regional coordination; share tools, models, approaches, and best practices; and increase capacity and readiness of practitioners to lead and implement LEDS and green growth initiatives. Policymakers, donors, practitioners, and other experts involved in developing low-emission strategies in Asia will attend the annual event.

This workshop brought together government representatives and development partners to share experiences on measuring greenhouse gases from the transport sector. Naeeda Crishna Morgado, Climate Change M...

A delegation of 12 Officers of the National Environment Commission Secretariat from the Royal Government of Bhutan paid a study visit to the Environment Operations Center (EOC) to learn about Strategic Enviroment Assessment (SEA) application in the Greater Mekong Subregion.

As part of a round of planning missions to GMS countries, CEP held a scoping mission to Viet Nam to consult with stakeholders on the program’s Phase II strategic planning, safeguards, and monitoring activities. 

As part of a round of planning missions to GMS countries, CEP held a scoping mission to Lao PDR to consult with stakeholders on the program’s Phase II strategic planning, safeguards, and monitoring activities. 

“Building up partnerships on green development transformation” was the main theme of the 2013 ASEAN-China Environmental Cooperation Forum, which was held in Guilin, Guangxi, People’s Republic of China (PRC).

In continuation of the Core Environment Program’s support to strengthening Myanmar’s environmental safeguards system, a Stakeholder Consultation Workshop on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Procedures was held in Yangon on 26 July 2013.

The Core Environment Program is helping further the green growth agenda in the GMS by bringing together public and private stakeholders to develop a shared understanding of green economy intiatives and how to operationalize them in the subregion. 

A workshop held in Ha Noi yesterday put forward the idea of green freight pilot projects for trucking SME companies in Viet Nam. Attended by 35 participants from transport authorities, freight companies, associations, universities and NGOs, the meeting was hosted by the Director General, Department of Environment, Ministry of Transport.

Cross-sector collaboration is central to the long-term success of the GMS Economic Cooperation Program, particularly among inter-dependent sectors such agriculture and environment.

This 5-day training program aimed to provide planners and environmental assessment practitioners with the concepts, tools and approaches to systematically integrate environmental safeguards into the transport and energy sectors of the GMS Economic Cooperation Program. 

Climate change and associated extreme weather events will have a significant impact on economic growth and human development in the GMS. Key sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, and tourism support economic growth and local livelihoods and are highly dependent on climate-sensitive natural resources including forests, water resources, biodiversity and other ecosystem services. 

The Better Air Quality (BAQ) conference is an event on air quality in Asia, covering transport, energy, industry and climate change, with a particular emphasis on government policies and measures. BAQ 2012 was co-organized by the Clean Air Initiative-Asia (CAI-Asia), the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), and in partnership with the Asian Development Bank and World Bank. 

Background

If current reforms in Myanmar continue, ADB estimates the country’s economy could expand by 7-8% per year. While this will greatly assist poverty reduction efforts, a major challenge for the country will be balancing economic growth with environmental sustainability – particularly as growth will be largely supported by the country’s rich endowment of natural resources.

The GMS Working Group on Environment met on 25 October in Beijing, PRC, to review CEP's 2012 implementation progress and upcoming priorities. All the meeting documents and presentations are listed belo...

Two side events prior to the main Rio +20 event featured the Greater Mekong Subregion and CEP.

From 26 May to 2 June 2012, EOC presented CEP achievements in the field of regional environmental cooperation in general and Strategic Environmental Assessments in the GMS in particular.

Hosted by PRC’s Ministry of Environmental Protection, the 18th Annual Meeting of the Working Group on Environment endorsed an 18-month work plan for CEP.

Geographic Information System (GIS) tools can help to identify potential environmental risks, impacts and opportunities associated with economic development plans. CEP has been mainstreaming the use GIS tools in the subregion, including through targeted training programs.

A major international conference, "GMS 2020: Balancing Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability," was held by CEP in February 2012 in Bangkok,Thailand. The conference benchmarked GMS economic growth between 2001 and 2010 and its impact on environmental and social development as well as provided an outlook for the next decade.

The Strategic Environment Assessments and Safeguards Application in Transport and Energy Sector Planning in the Greater Mekong Subregion is a five-day intensive program designed to provide opportunities for enhanced understanding and awareness on how environmental planning...

29 November 2011

A training seminar was jointly organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and Ministry of Energy and Mines, supported by EOC. The training showcased strategic environmental assessment (SEA) best practice from the GMS and demonstrated SEA as a planning tool in support of energy planning in the Lao PDR.

Representatives of Cambodia, PRC, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Union of Myanmar, the Kingdom of Thailand, and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam met to discuss and decide on the continuing collaboration on the most important resource that countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) share -  the environment.

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

The first GMS Environment Ministers Meeting (EMM) was held in Shanghai, PRC on 25 May 2005. The overall theme of the meeting was “Managing Shared Natural Resources for Sustainable Development“. The meeting took stock of achievements in GMS environmental cooperation and discussed future directions for regional cooperation in environment and natural resources management.