Environmental Challenges in the Mekong Region: How Regional Economic Integration is Jeopardizing the Basin’s Natural Resources

Abstract

This research provides an analysis of the transboundary nature of the Mekong River, as well as the abundant natural resources within the basin along its course. Cradle of mainland Southeast Asian civilization, and its defining geographical feature, for centuries this river system has shaped the region’s cultures and ways of life. The basin, however, is rapidly approaching the limit of its riches. In the name of rapid economic growth, a model of development that in many ways has proven unsustainable is pushing the Mekong’s ecosystem to the brink, while eroding the very foundations of the region’s prosperity. Many factors are contributing to these challenges, but large dams, deforestation, added to the tangible impacts of climate change, are the prime suspects. Focusing on the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Program, this thesis argues that the existing model of regional economic integration, primarily promoted by the Asian Development Bank, has failed to find a fair compromise with the environment of the basin, and instead has contributed to a faster deterioration of its natural endowments. This all came along with the worsening of the livelihoods of those communities that directly depend on the river for subsistence. A failure and a fault deriving from neoliberal, “business-as-usual” models of development which translated in infrastructural disasters like Nam Theun II Dam, and Nam Ngiep I Dam, here presented. Furthermore, a critical analysis of the new approach taken by the ADB, aimed at investing in the natural capital of the region, will be provided. In light of the complexity of the overall geopolitical context, this thesis finally addresses the need for a new basin-wide approach to development able to transcend individual national interests, in order to tackle regional environmental challenges before the damage becomes irreversible.