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On August 27, 2024, Fair Finance Asia (FFA) will conduct a hybrid panel discussion, “Enhancing Sustainable Finance in Mekong Hydropower and Asia’s Just Energy Transition,” at the 2nd Southeast Asia Collaborative Convening of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) on Just Energy Transition (JET) to be held from August 27-29 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Session Background
Fair Finance Asia (FFA)’s new study, Enhancing Sustainable Finance in Mekong Hydropower: Challenges, Opportunities, and Ways Forward, found that the public policies of six financial institutions providing cross-border financing to hydropower projects along the Mekong region do not adequately address the actual and potential adverse environmental and social (E&S) impacts of large hydropower projects in the Mekong that are growing in number. The assessed financial institutions included three from Thailand (Bangkok Bank, Krung Thai Bank, and Siam Commercial Bank) and three from Vietnam (Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank, Dragon Capital Group, and Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank).
FFA’s report also found that countries in the Mekong region are at different levels of maturity in terms of embedding environmental and social issues in financial regulations and banking supervision practices. Thailand has advanced in encouraging banks and investors to pay more attention to the socio-environmental impacts of hydropower projects. However, much of this regulatory guidance is voluntary, and not yet enforced by central banks and financial supervisors. Cambodia and Lao PDR have yet to develop relevant regulation.
To better understand how financial institutions, regulators, civil society organizations (CSOs), and other stakeholders can strengthen the sustainable financing standards for Mekong hydropower sector in support of Asia’s overall regional energy transition, FFA is organizing a multi-stakeholder dialogue at Oxfam’s 2nd Southeast Asia Collaborative Convening of Civil Society Organizations on JET from 27-29 August 2024 at Fairfield by Marriot Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Session Objectives
Conducted as a multi-stakeholder panel discussion, this session will aim to:
- Highlight key findings and recommendations from FFA’s report by facilitating a multi-stakeholder dialogue on sustainable finance policy levers (including taxonomies) that can guide financial institutions and regulators in mitigating the Mekong hydropower sector’s Environmental and Social (E&S) risks and impacts on local communities and vulnerable groups.
- Reflect on the strategic pathways to better align the ASEAN and the Mekong subregion’s hydropower financing policies with science-based and socio-environmentally just energy transition principles.
Speakers
This session will be moderated by Kyle Cruz, Knowledge and Communications Manager, FFA. Panelists will include:
- Dr. Mak Sithirith, Country Manager, World Fish Cambodia
- Sarinee Achavanuntakul, Managing Director, Lead, Fair Finance Thailand
More information
To read FFA’s report, Enhancing Sustainable Finance in Mekong Hydropower, click here.
Disclaimer: This material/production has been financed by the Swedish Embassy in Bangkok. Responsibility for the content rests entirely with the creator. The Swedish Embassy in Bangkok does not necessarily share the expressed views and interpretations.