Banks| Policies| Dodgy Deals| Campaigns
About us| Blog| Publications| Successes| Contact us| Donate
About BankTrack
Visit us
Organisation
Our team
Our board
Guiding principles
Team up with us
Join our Active Allies list
Our annual reports
Funding and finances
History
BankTrack in the media
Our privacy policy
Donate
2021-02-24 00:00:00
Protect the climate but finance Total?
2021-02-16 00:00:00
Oil and gas financiers are staring down the barrel at $1 trillion in losses: time to rein in support for new pipelines
2021-02-11 00:00:00
Beefing up risk: the exposure of JBS’ financiers to financial, regulatory and reputational risks
2021-01-25 00:00:00
Why should banks support EU mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence?
2020-09-24 12:53:20
Oscislowo open-pit coal mine cancelled
2020-09-08 13:07:41
Strengthened OECD guidance on responsible banking
2020-02-25 10:35:27
JPMorgan Chase Coal and Arctic Policy a step forward but fails to match its climate responsibility as the world’s #1 Fossil Bank
2020-02-18 17:27:23
Civil society groups welcome Royal Bank of Scotland preparing to exit fossil fuels
Connect
2021-03-24 00:00:00
Banking on Climate Chaos 2021
2021-03-22 00:00:00
BankTrack Annual Report 2020
2021-02-01 00:00:00
Banking on Thin Ice
2020-11-30 00:00:00
Soft Commitments, Hard Lessons: an analysis of the Soft Commodities Compact
2020-11-24 00:00:00
"Trust Us, We're Equator Banks": Part II
2020-11-18 00:00:00
Crude Risk: Risks to banks and investors from the East African Crude Oil Pipeline
See all publications
Browse
Home
Banks
Dodgy Deals
Map
Campaigns
About
About BankTrack
Donate
Contact BankTrack
Publications
Victories
Follow Us
News
BankTrack blog
Facebook page
Twitter channel
Home › News
Cambodia, Vietnam, and Donors Challenge Laos on Mekong Dams
Start
Dodgy Deals

2013-01-18
Luang Prabang, Laos

Contact:

Ms. Pianporn Deetes, Thailand Campaign Coordinator, International Rivers
T: +66 81 422 0111
E: pai@internationalrivers.org

Mr. Kirk Herbertson, Southeast Asia Policy Coordinator, International Rivers 
T: +66 86 786 3182
E: kirk@internationalrivers.org

 


Share this page:

Luang Prabang, Laos:  At yesterday’s 19th Mekong River Commission (MRC) Council Meeting, heated debate occurred over Laos’ construction of the Xayaburi Dam and plans to build a cascade of dams on the Lower Mekong River. According to participants at the meeting, MRC governments disagreed about the prior consultation procedures and how they had been applied in the case of the Xayaburi Dam. The Cambodian delegation asserted that Laos had misinterpreted the Mekong Agreement and that the prior consultation process had never been completed. Meanwhile, Vietnam requested that no further developments on the Mekong mainstream occur until the Mekong mainstream dams study agreed upon at least year’s Council Meeting is completed. The official opening statements from Council members reveal that Cambodia and Vietnam have not changed their opposition to the Xayaburi Dam and other mainstream dams (download the opening statements below).

In his opening statement, Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment diplomatically chastised the Lao government, stating that the “launching of the first mainstream hydropower project recently in the Lower Mekong Basin is causing concerns of the Governments of the riparian countries in the region and the international community about its adverse impacts on downstream areas.  While we are still trying to do the research to understand its impacts, each riparian country should show their responsibility by assuring that any future development and management of water resources proposed in the basin should be considered with due care and full precaution based on best scientific understanding of the potential impacts.”

The Cambodian and Thai Council members both asked that the Mekong mainstream dams impact study be completed as soon as possible to ensure that future decisions about mainstream dams are informed by good science. 

Meanwhile, in a Joint Statement made by the MRC’s Development Partners, donor governments expressed the need for consensus amongst the MRC governments on Mekong dams due to their transboundary impacts and requested that the Lao government disclose the Xayaburi Dam’s project design, while taking into account the concerns of their neighbors.  The statement said, “It is our consensus that building dams on the mainstream of the Mekong may irrevocably change the river and hence constitute a challenge for food security, sustainable development, and biodiversity conservation.” 

MRC Development Partners also recommended in their statement that all ambiguities in the prior consultation process be resolved before any other mainstream project proceeds.

“We applaud Cambodia and Vietnam for upholding their responsibilities in the 1995 Mekong Agreement, and donors for recognizing the flaws in the current process.  Vietnam has acted responsibly in requesting that all decisions over the development of the Mekong are based on science,” said Ms. Pianporn Deetes, Thailand Campaign Coordinator for International Rivers. “Laos needs to begin respecting the 1995 Mekong Agreement and neighboring governments’ requests by immediately stopping construction of the Xayaburi Dam.”

Throughout the MRC prior consultation process, reservations over the Xayaburi Dam and the flawed decision-making process have been expressed by the Cambodian and Vietnamese governments. Divisions between MRC member countries have remained since the MRC’s Special Joint Committee Meeting held on April 19th, 2011, in which the government of Lao PDR proposed to proceed with the project. In contrast, the governments of Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam called for an extension to the decision-making process, citing concerns about transboundary impacts and knowledge gaps that require both further study and public consultation.  Vietnam requested a ten-year moratorium on decisions over mainstream dams.  At the 18th MRC Council Meeting in December 2011, the four governments agreed to carry out a study on the impacts of the Mekong mainstream dams.  The study has been slow to progress with the countries only recently agreeing upon the study’s concept note.

“No further projects should be allowed to undergo the MRC’s prior consultation process until an immediate review of the process is carried out by the four governments, with the participation of the region’s public,” said  Mr. Kirk Herbertson, Southeast Asia Policy Coordinator for International Rivers.  “The Mekong River Commission is in desperate need of legal and institutional reform.  It’s a broken process that needs immediate fixing.”

On Friday, January 18th, representatives of the MRC Council and the Development Partners will participate in a field visit to the Xayaburi Dam site.

Related Dodgy Deals

Projects

There are no projects active for this item now.
on record

Xayaburi dam Laos

Hydroelectric Power Generation
Browse
Home
Banks
Dodgy Deals
Map
Campaigns
About
About BankTrack
Donate
Contact BankTrack
Publications
Victories
Follow Us
News
BankTrack blog
Facebook page
Twitter channel
Vismarkt 15
6511 VJ Nijmegen
The Netherlands

Tel: +31 24 324 9220
Contact@banktrack.org
©2016 BankTrack                Webdesign by BankTrack and EASYmind
BankTrack is a registered charity in the Netherlands (ANBI) - RSIN 813874658
Find our privacy policy here

Stay up to date

Sign up now for all BankTrack's news


Make a comment

Your comment will be reviewed, before being posted