Leaders from the six
countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion
have affirmed their commitment to realize
a more integrated, prosperous and equitable
region, while respecting the environment,
at the conclusion of their summit Tuesday
in Myanmar’s capital, Nay Pyi Taw.
Leaders and senior officials
from China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand
and Vietnam attending the 4th Greater Mekong
Subregion (GMS) summit endorsed a new 10-year
Strategic Framework guiding economic cooperation
in the Subregion.
GMS countries agreed,
as endorsed in their new Framework, to focus
more attention on the linkages across different
sectors, notably between energy, agriculture
and food security, and the environment,
and recognised climate change not only as
an environmental concern but also a broader
development issue.
“Leaders from the Greater Mekong Subregion
are showing progress towards restructuring
their economies to reflect the true role
natural capital plays in underpinning their
economies and the well-being of about 320
million people,” said Dr. Geoffrey Blate,
WWF Greater Mekong’s Senior Advisor on Landscape
Conservation. “The new Framework does signal
a commitment to green the region’s economies.”
Natural capital at risk
GMS leaders acknowledged that rapid development
and growth have placed the Subregion’s biologically
diverse ecosystems – its natural capital
– increasingly at risk. Under the new Framework,
GMS countries have pledged to work together
to conserve biodiversity and restore ecosystem
connectivity and to better integrate conservation
into development planning. Moreover, the
new Framework commits countries to control
greenhouse gas emissions and collaboratively
address the impacts of climate change.
“Greater Mekong countries
have affirmed that healthy economic growth
goes hand in hand with healthy and productive
ecosystems,” added Dr. Blate. “By investing
in biodiversity conservation and the maintenance
of natural capital, the Greater Mekong Subregion
can expand options for economic growth and
ensure long-term sustainability in the face
of global environmental change, including
climate change.”
Business key to transition to green economy
At the parallel GMS Business Summit, business
leaders from the GMS countries discussed
how to improve the region’s competitiveness,
and focused on ways to make regional transportation
systems more efficient and securing support
for small and medium enterprises.
At the Business Summit, Dr. Blate conveyed
two important outcomes of the GMS workshop
on Investing in Natural Capital, hosted
by the Vietnamese government last month,
including an agreement among GMS delegates
on the need to develop a regional green
economy vision to support implementation
of the new Framework, and the critical role
of involving the private sector.
The President of the Republic of Myanmar’s
Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry,
and incoming Chair of the GMS Business Forum,
U Win Aung, said that “the GMS Business
Forum and the wider business community have
responsibilities to facilitate regional
cooperation and to lead the transition to
green economy in the Subregion.
GMS countries indicated that the new Strategic
Framework has been designed to address global
and regional challenges. The regional master
plan, which will be crafted to implement
the Framework, will be oriented to address
shared social and environmental concerns
amongst the countries.
The Greater Mekong is one of the most biologically
diverse regions on the planet. Few places
on earth demonstrate in such dramatic terms
the fundamental links between human and
ecosystem well-being. Around 80 per cent
of the population depends on the productive
capacity of healthy natural systems to sustain
key ecosystem services such as clean water,
food, and fibre.
