Greater Mekong Subregion Core Environment Program

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The GMS Core Environment Program Integrating
Environmental Sustainability into Development of
the Greater Mekong Subregion
Global Environment Facility - Country Support
Program Sub-regional Workshop for GEF Focal
Points in East and Southeast Asia 2 April 2007
Javed Mir, Senior Natural Resources Management
Specialist David McCauley, GEF Facilitator Asian
Development Bank
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Outline of the Presentation

• The Greater Mekong Subregion Program
• GMS Environmental Working Group
• GMS Core Environment Program
• Integrating Global Environmental Concerns
• Lessons Learned and Next Steps

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Recent Economic Expansion in the GMS
a/ Excludes PRC.
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GMS Program Organizational Structure
GMS SUMMIT
GOVERNMENT NATIONAL COORDINATING COMMITTEE Natio
nal Coordinator
ADB -------------- Secretariat
GMS MINISTERIAL MEETING
GMS SENIOR OFFICIALS MEETING (SOM)
WG on Agriculture (WGA)
GMS Business Forum
WG on Environment (WGE)
Tourism WG (TWG)
WG on HRD (WGHRD)
Sub. Telecoms Forum
Sub. Investment WG
Sub. Transport Forum
Trade Facilitation WG
Energy Setor Forum
Ad Hoc SG on Customs
RPTCC
Focal Group
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Overview of the GMS Program

• Members
• Cambodia, Peoples Republic of China
• Lao Peoples Democratic Republic,
• Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam
• Investment Program
• 26 investment projects over 12 years
• Investments of 6.5 billion
• ADB contribution of 1.8 billion
• ADB project cofinancing of 2.6 billion
• 124 technical assistance projects
• Grants of 148 million (69 million ADB)
• Initiatives
• - Cross-border Transport Agreement
• Phnom Penh Plan for Development
• Management
• - Core Environment Program
• - GMS Energy Strategy

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• We welcome the recommendations by the ministers
  on the implementation of the Core Environment
  Program, together with local communities and
  development partners at their meeting in
  Shanghai, China in May 2005. (July 2005,
  Kunming, PRC)

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• If we do not take care of our natural resources
  and biodiversity, the region cannot realize its
  economic potential.

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GMS Core Environment Program - Vision
A poverty-free and ecologically rich GMS
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Core Environment Program Objectives

• Embed environmental dimensions in GMS Economic
  Cooperation Program
• Positively influence GMS development process,
  strategies and investments
• Integrate and synergize poverty reduction and
  biodiversity conservation
• Partner with state and non-state stakeholders on
  resource mobilization (knowledge, human and
  financial) coupled with program development and
  implementation

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Spatial Elements of the GMS CEP
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Targets - Phase 1 (2006-2008)

• Integrate environmental concerns into development
  planning (NSEC, tourism, energy sectors)
• Establish structure for GMS biodiversity
  corridors based on work in at least five pilot
  sites
• Develop pro-poor biodiversity conservation
  management plans for three protected areas
• Institutionalize use of environmental performance
  assessment and NSDS, develop regional indicators
• Develop for Phase II (2009-2015) an ADB/GEF
  partnership and investment program
• Prepare proposals for sustainable financing
  mechanisms (by 2008)

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Environmental Assessment of Economic Corridors
and Sector Strategies
Component 1
Aim Ensure GMS development strategies and
investment plans are environmentally sound,
economically efficient and socially equitable

• Activities
• Develop national-level capacity for environmental
  assessment of energy, transport and tourism
  strategies and plans
• Assess potential environmental impacts of GMS
  energy, transport and tourism strategies and
  investments

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Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative
Component 2
Aim Establish sustainable management and use
regimes in the GMS biodiversity conservation
corridors

• Activities
• Initiate at least five biodiversity corridor
  pilot sites tied to GMS economic corridors
• Link biodiversity conservation to poverty
  reduction

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Environmental Performance Assessments
Component 3
Aim Build on SEF I II to enhance and
institutionalize environmental performance
assessment capacity and use

• Activities
• Monitor the state of the environment and build
  environmental performance assessment capacity
• Link environmental performance assessment to
  national economic and sector development,
  planning and monitoring processes

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Capacity Building for Environmental Management
Component 4
Aim Self-sustaining GMS environmental
governance and management regime

• Activities
• Identify options for institutionalizing the
  functions of the Environment Operations Center
• Build capacity for integrating sustainable
  development considerations into planning and
  monitoring
• Develop capacity and networks for environmental
  information/knowledge generation and management
• Build stakeholder platforms and networks

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Sustainable Financing
Component 5
Aim Initiate strategies and mechanisms to
promote the financial sustainability of landscape
conservation and environmental management efforts
in the GMS

• Activities
• Prepare a Core Enviroment Program /
  Biodiversity Corridors Initiative investment
  framework for 2009-2015

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Areas of Emphasis Phase 2 (2009-2015)

• Further develop GMS environmental management and
  institutional capacity building
• Firmly establish biodiversity corridors and
  upscale investments tied to watershed restoration
  and protection
• Encourage sustainable transport through
  public-private partnerships
• Identify high priority climate change risks and
  introduce appropriate adaptation measures

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Core Environment Program Innovations

• Makes active use of partnerships (currently
  over 30 partners)
• Incorporates cross-sectoral development synergies
  and environmental risks
• Applies landscape management approach
• Includes attention to emerging threats
  climate change, acid rain, social/cultural risks

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Environmental Mainstreaming Achievements

• Implementation in early stages, but
  mainstreaming efforts center on
• Improved environment-sectoral communications
  Facilitating cross-sectoral engagement between
  the Working Group on Environment and GMS
  development/investment planning bodies in
  transport, energy (hydropower) and tourism
  sectors.
• Partnerships Bringing together multiple actors
  state, communities, NGOs, universities, bilateral
  and multilateral partners on one common platform.
  
• Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Applied
  to key sectors in GMS Program covering gt3.5
  billion now and expected to be gt25 billion by
  2015. Using several spatial scales national,
  provincial, subregional economic corridors.
• Poverty-environment linkages Biodiversity
  conservation in high priority landscapes linked
  to local livelihoods development through SEAs
  tied to conservation investments
• Environmental investments Developing an
  environmentally focused investment framework
  which will amount to about 1 billion vis-à-vis
  10 -15 billion of infrastructure investments.

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Environmental Mainstreaming Challenges

• Primarily Facing Human Resource
  Constraints
• Central and provincial level capacity to
  undertake integrated development planning
• Staff at environment agencies and key decision
  making ministries to engage on environment and
  development issues
• Complex program planning and reporting over-loads
  staff
• Responses
• Embedding initiatives within mainstream
  development and conservation plans and programs
• Augmenting public sector capacity by bringing in
  communities and non-state actors
• Using SEAs to provide a platform for bringing
  people, skills and programs together
• Enabling local communities to generate and manage
  information, knowledge and financial resources,
  and become the key decision makers and service
  providers

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Lessons Mainstreaming Global Concerns

• Still early in the process, but
  some preliminary lessons
• Taking a long-term view Biodiversity and climate
  change issues require longer term perspective,
  and the GMS program provides it
• Subregional facilitation Country-driven vision
  and approach essential, but GMS program allows
  neutral framwork for subregional cooperation.
• Relevance to Key Audiences Environment must be
  seen not as a constraint, but adding value to
  everyday lives and jobs for communities, benefits
  for line agencies, and so on.
• Multi-stakeholder Networks Integrative planning
  is time and information/ knowledge intensive. No
  single actor including the State can do it.
• Flexibility to Act Need an adaptive planning and
  implementation mode with robust
  knowledge/technological back-up system.

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Thank you!