Water and environmental ministers from Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam laid out their agenda for 2018 at the 24th Mekong River Commission Council in Pattaya.
Surasak Karnjanarat, Thailand’s minister for natural resources and the environment, opened the confab at the Intercontinental Pattaya Resort Nov. 29, which also reviewed the MRC’s work in 2017 and approved the annual work plan.
“While cooperation has always underlined the work of the MRC, even stronger cooperation, joint efforts and partnerships are needed more than ever and will be instrumental for MRC during the coming years to effectively address key basin-wide opportunities and challenges from climate change including extreme floods and droughts; past, ongoing and future impacts of development so as to maintain our momentum and concerted commitment to the water-food-energy nexus,” Surasak said in his opening remarks.
The meeting saw the approval of a new formula for financial contributions by member countries from 2019 onward that will see all member states pay equal shares by 2030.
The council also approved two basin-wide strategies to address key challenges and opportunities: the Mekong Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan and the Basin-wide Fisheries Management and Development Strategy.
Council members received an update on the completion of the Study on Sustainable Management and Development of the Mekong River including impacts from mainstream hydropower projects. The study is expected to provide recommendations to the member countries in adapting respective national plans and projects, increasing the benefits while reducing the potential adverse transboundary impacts.
Finally, the council set Siam Reap as the location of the 3rd MRC Summit in April, the most significant political event on the MRC calendar.
