Development and Climate Change in the Mekong Region

The countries of the Mekong Region have mostly continued in their path of rapid economic growth and increasing regional economic integration. However, poverty and social inequality—including gender inequality—remain significant challenges in the region. Sustainability is a major concern, as environmental degradation takes a toll on both ecosystems and livelihoods, and competition over limited natural resources becomes increasingly common, often occurring across national boundaries. Combined with these existing challenges is the serious concern of climate change that is causing severe negative impacts on many food-producing areas of the Mekong Region, posing risks of food insecurity. Droughts and floods occur with more frequency and intensity. At the end of 2015 and early 2016, for instance, the entire region experienced one of its worst recorded droughts in recent decades. The effects of this drought, and subsequent salinity intrusion, are still being felt in many areas such as the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.