The future direction of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries’ post-2015 sustainable development agenda was discussed at a regional workshop during 14-16 May 2015 in Ha Noi, Viet Nam.
One of the main outcomes of the Rio+20 conference on sustainable development in 2012 was agreement to develop a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will build upon the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) but are more ambitious and comprehensive. With the completion of the MDGs, 2015 is an important year for countries to set their future development agenda.
“To ensure the smooth transition from MDGs to SDGs, it is now timely for GMS countries to consider how they may apply lessons learned from implementing MDGs on environmental sustainability for realising and localising environment-related SDGs, build regional capacity for tracking progress on SDGs, and utilising SDGs as a pathway to enhancing natural capital”, said Dr. Nguyen Van Tai, General Director, Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE).
Seventeen new SDGs are proposed to achieving equitable and sustained growth and development, protecting the environment, and promoting peaceful and inclusive societies.
Connected by the Mekong River, the six GMS countries—Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam—also share many similar sustainable development challenges as well as opportunities. However, there currently lacks a regional collaboration mechanism to guide the countries in national SDG implementation. Establishing a policy framework for regional cooperation to enhance natural capital in national SDG implementation was a priority topic for discussion during the workshop.
Representatives from the GMS countries, Vietnam government agencies, and international and national organizations also shared best practices for scaling up successful efforts for natural capital-related SDG implementation as well as monitoring, and investigated solutions to overcome institutional barriers.
The ‘GMS Workshop on Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals: Bringing Natural Capital into Center Stage’ was organized by ISPONRE, under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE). Support was provided by the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF), Asian Development Bank-led GMS Core Environment Program, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through its Project for Ecosystem Services (ProEcoServ).
Visit the event page to access speeches, presentations, and other materials from the workshop.
Published: 15th May 2015