The Greater Mekong Subregion
Strategic planning and assessments
To meet rising electricity demand, more than 60 hydropower projects had been proposed for the Vu Gia-Thu Bon River Basin, raising concerns about the environmental and social impacts
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In a dynamic and rapidly growing region like the GMS, strategic planning and assessment tools are needed to ensure that environmental and social safeguards are addressed and opportunities for green growth are captured within decision-making. Since its inception in 2006, the CEP-BCI has helped to demonstrate the usefulness of planning support tools such as geographic information systems (GIS), and strategic environmental assessments (SEAs). For example, a transport- related SEA was undertaken for the GMS North-South Economic Corridor Strategy and Action Plan. The pilot SEA assessed the plan against a series of sustainable development goals using spatial modeling tools. This included assessments of the plan’s impacts on hard and soft infrastructure (eg health care, education), and its orientation towards avoiding and minimizing the loss of biodiversity and ensuring adaptation and mitigation of climate change. The assessment considered several development scenarios and provided a range of recommendations to the planning teams, including guidance on the alignment of the development corridors to avoid environmentally and socially vulnerable areas (Ramachandran and Linde 2011). The SEA of the Quang Nam Hydropower Plan in Viet Nam is another example of a successful application of this tool. It was the first SEA undertaken following the requirements of Viet Nam’s revised Law on Environmental Protection in 2005. To meet rising electricity demand, more than 60 hydropower projects had been proposed for the Vu Gia-Thu Bon River Basin, raising concerns about the environmental and social impacts. Using GIS data analysis and participatory processes among stakeholders, the assessment identified a number of potential impacts, including the fragmentation of natural ecosystems and fish habitats, potential reductions in water supply for downstream communities, social and economic impacts on ethnic minority groups, and unforeseen economic costs associated with the management of environmental impacts. Among the SEA’s strategic-level recommendations were proposals integrated procedures for the operation of the dams to ensure water availability for downstream uses, and a proposal for a rivers policy to maintain migration routes for fish in priority areas of the basin. Since its completion, there has been progress in implementing these recommendations, including the announcement of a freeze on all hydropower development within the Song Thanh Nature Reserve (Dunn et al. 2012).