OpinionWhy Asean needs to care about Mekong issues like it did with haze

Name: Cambodian fishermen see livelihoods threatened by climate change and dam activity
Uploaded: 2021-05-19T01:45:13.000Z
Duration: 10 min 28 s
Description: Cambodian fishermen see livelihoods threatened by climate change and dam activity

Most maritime member states seem to think that issues affecting the river would best be addressed through existing subregional frameworks

But Asean’s centrality depends upon it representing all members’ concerns and interests, including the Mekong – even if geopolitics gets in the way

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The Mekong river is seen from Thailand’s northeastern Loei province at the border with Laos during a drought in 2019. Photo: AFP

Hoang Thi HaandFarah Nadine Seth

Published: 9:45am, 19 May 2021Updated: 9:45am, 19 May 2021

The Mekong river, which runs through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, is the beating heart of mainland Southeast Asia, sustaining the livelihoods of around 66 million people. Yet the river is running dry, with its water levels at their lowest in 100 years. Its ecosystem nears the verge of collapse from the accumulative effects of climate change, dam-building and other man-made activities such as deforestation, sand mining, extensive irrigation and wetland conversion.

Unpredictable and more frequent droughts, as well as floods and reduced river sediments, have wreaked havoc on riverside communities’ agricultural production and inland fisheries. Tonle Sap lake, which provides two-thirds of Cambodia’s annual catch of fish, has seen its resources dwindle in recent years. The Mekong River Commission estimated that by last year the amount of sediment reaching the Mekong Delta, which produces more than 50 per cent of Vietnam’s rice output, had fallen to one-third of what it was in 2007.

Vietnam attempted to put the Mekong on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ agenda last year when it was chair, but the prevailing view among most member states was that issues affecting the river would best be addressed through existing subregional frameworks, given that only some members are affected by its degradation.

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Cambodian fishermen see livelihoods threatened by climate change and dam activity

As a result, Asean remains a bystander to the multitude of environmental challenges and geopolitical dynamics that are unfolding in the Mekong basin, despite being the premier regional grouping for Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, new frameworks initiated by major powers have sprouted, in keeping with the growing economic, environmental and strategic importance they attach to the Mekong region. These include the China-led Lancang-Mekong Cooperation and the Mekong-US Partnership, as well as others led by South Korea and Japan.

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