Averting Environmental Disaster along the Mekong

Link to the program recording here.

Over-exploitation of the Mekong River basin’s natural resources, especially through hydropower and sand mining, is causing escalating harm to the region’s ecosystems and endangering the livelihoods of millions of people living in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

People living along the Lower Mekong and many of its major tributaries are already contending with irregular fluctuations in water levels, declining fish catches and the loss of traditional livelihoods and could be at risk of large-scale displacement. The region’s broader economic growth is also at stake.

This event will bring together regional experts to discuss how an environmental crisis in the Mekong can be averted, and how transnational governance of the river’s resources can be improved.

This event will follow the release of an upcoming report by the International Crisis Group.

The screening and panel discussion will be followed by a networking lunch.

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Speakers:

Matthew Wheeler, senior analyst, South East Asia, International Crisis Group.

Pai Deetes, Thailand and Myanmar campaigns director, International Rivers.

David Wood, lecturer, Mae Fah Luang University, and energy consultant.

Moderator: Tan Hui Yee, Indochina bureau chief, Straits Times.