ICG, International Crisis Group (2024) Dammed in the Mekong: Averting an environmental catastrophe. International Crisis Group.
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Environmental degradation caused by infrastructure development in the Mekong basin, especially large-scale hydropower and sand mining, threatens the region’s ecological balance and the livelihoods of 70 million people. Over the past 30 years, developers have largely ignored the natural ecosystems’ environmental and social value, while the emergence of new infrastructure and industries has deepened inequality within states. None of the Mekong basin states – China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam – has achieved a satisfactory balance between the imperatives of economic growth and environmental preservation, while climate change has resulted in higher temperatures and severe droughts, exacerbating the harmful effects of new infrastructure. Greater understanding of environmental change is needed, with large-scale hydropower giving way to solar and wind. More effort should be invested in transboundary governance of the basin’s resources and in strengthening the participation in decision-making of the communities hardest hit by damage to the Mekong. This report unpacks the issues and forces at play in the Mekong to gain a clearer understanding of the competing interests in the region and associated risks to human security. It is based on review of existing literature, interviews held between June 2022 and January 2024 with experts, academics, former officials and people directly affected by the basin’s changing environment, including women, in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. The report does not cover Myanmar, which is situated almost entirely outside the lower Mekong basin.
| Item Type: | Documents |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | Mekong, Livelihoods, Economic Development, Climate Change, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Mining, Erosion, Hydropower, Governance |
| Subjects: | Disasters and Climate Change |
| Depositing User: | Kokila ICSF Krish |
| Date Deposited: | 05 Nov 2024 04:47 |
| Last Modified: | 05 Nov 2024 04:47 |
| URI: | http://icsfarchives.net/id/eprint/20938 |
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