3rd Mekong Forum on Water, Food & Energy. Presentation from Session 19: Advancing Sustainability in the Mekong Region: the role of Assessment Tools, Standards and Safeguards.

1. advancing
sustainability in the
Mekong region: role
of assessment tools
and standards
Kate Lazarus
Senior Operations
Officer
Sustainable Business
Advisory
Vientiane, Lao PDR

2. Efforts to advance sustainability of the hydro sector
• Build a constituency for improved hydropower
governance and wider testing of hydropower assessment
tools (e.g the Protocol e.g. IFC standards)
• Support changes in the way hydropower companies
design, construct and operate their hydropower
projects, to take into account social and environmental
factors
• Contribution by developers to wider Mekong discussions
on hydropower, the ways in which it can be improved
and environmental and social impacts minimised.
• Provide space for dialogue and discussion on hydropower
governance - upstream/downstream

3. Bu
• (re
Key message 1: Creation of knowledge is essential
to building awareness and understanding

4. Key message 2: Fostering neutral multi-stakeholder
dialogue spaces on critical aspects of sustainable
hydropower is fundamental
•Vietnam
•Cambodia
•Lao PDR
•Thailand
•China

5. Key message 3: Pilot testing and using unofficially
contributes to greater understanding of multiple uses
of Protocol (China and Laos)
•Sustainability Assessment of Electricity Planning: Using Section 1
of the 2009 Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol in
Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam

6. Key message 4: Building constituents for
improved hydropower governance in Mekong
Region gets the word out and more likely to lead
to greater use
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7. Key message 5: In rivers
with cascades of hydro or
in transboundary
situations, taking a basinwide approach is necessary
to addressing cumulative
impacts and identifying
management options
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8. Key message 6: No need to compare apples to
oranges: Protocol & IFC Performance Standards
Protocol
Performance Standards
Assessment Tool
Standard
Industry specific voluntary
scoring tool
Cross-cutting risk management
framework
Wider application including
governance, political risk,
financial viability
Focus on environmental and social (IFC’s
overall credit/investment assessment
covers all)
E&S issues
Principle of avoid, minimize, mitigate, compensate
Stakeholder engagement at core
Cross-cutting issues: climate change, human rights
Recognition of need to focus in integrated manner
www.ifc.org/EHSguidelines www.ifc.org/sustainability
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9. Session questions
• What have been the Mekong’s experiences with sustainability
assessment tools (e.g. HSAP and RSAT), and how do they
contribute to sustainability?
• How do the methods and approaches employed in these
assessment tools along with internationally accepted
environmental and social standards contribute to advancing
sustainability of the hydropower sector in the Mekong region…or
not?
Practical applications or efforts to use the tools and standards
and explore options for advancing sustainability will be shared.
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10. Thank you
Kate Lazarus, klazarus@ifc.org

11. Bus Stop Discussion
• Group 1: Defining sustainability and its meaning in the Mekong
region
 How is hydropower sustainability defined? Are their examples of
how sustainability has been addressed or assessed by your
organisation? How can sustainability assessments be improved?
• Group 2: Considering risk management
 How can we manage risks of hydropower development in a
sustainable manner? What are the various values (e.g.
business/economic) needed to manage risks in the long-term?
• Group 3: Challenges to adopting a sustainable approach to
hydropower development in the Mekong region
 What are the barriers to ensuring hydropower development in the
Mekong is sustainable? Do the sustainability tools and approaches
make a contribution and what are the challenges to their
application?
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