18 August 2024, NIICE Commentary 9436
Agnes
The Mekong River is the largest river in Southeast Asia, originating from the Tibetan Plateau and flowing through the territory of six countries: China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The Mekong River basin is inhabited by 60 million people and is an important element of the economy and life of the people. Management of transboundary rivers is becoming increasingly challenging, due to changing socio-economic-political and climatic conditions and centralisation of institutional interests. This article will focus on China as a major player in the transboundary water governance in the Mekong region.
Out of the six countries, China and Laos have the most positive interaction whereas China and Cambodia have the weakest interaction. Though China’s interactions with Thailand and Vietnam are the most negative and are often faced with a decline in Chinese investments, it yielded positive results in terms of bilateral engagements. Moreover, China maintains a neutral stance with Myanmar on transboundary water governance.
China as a Hydro-hegemon
Hydro hegemony is the hegemony at the river basin level and it refers to the control of the transboundary flows and is authorized by the most powerful actor in the region. China utilises its position to accentuate the power asymmetries in the region by constructing dams since 1986. This was followed by numerous adverse effects on downstream countries like Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia and unequal rainfall patterns in the upstream and downstream, with droughts remaining longer during the wet season. Construction of dams on the Mekong River has always been contentious, particularly on the river’s ecosystem, communities thriving in the vicinity and agriculture. For China, the Mekong River Basin provides opportunities for hydropower generation, shifting from coal to cleaner energy resources and helping the development of economically poorer Western regions of China Xizang and Yunnan, which are situated along the Mekong. Provincial-level governments follow the guidelines of the centre but are often given autonomy on the ways to achieve these goals. Civil society plays an important role, but usually limited. China focuses more on limiting multilateral cooperation and involving more in bilateral engagements and unilaterally aims to increase hydropower generation by focusing more on the building of dams in the upper Mekong basin.
Vietnamese interests
Like China, each level of government in Vietnam has vested interests in water resource management. The central government’s focus is on economic growth as the region comprises 50% of the country’s rice production and 60% of its aquaculture. It also faces the problem of a lack of interprovincial cooperation mechanisms, particularly, as the local government officials have a better understanding of the effects of climate change because of their proximity to the problem than the policymakers centred in Hanoi.
Further, large-scale industrial development exacerbates the water management issues in the Delta provinces and there exists a lack of proper incentive structures to bring in productive water resource management. Another concerning factor is the land rights use and the absence of property rights in Vietnam, which helps the industries and businesses to exploit the land they work on. Also, there is a lack of civil society involvement in water governance.
Regional Cooperation Mechanisms
MRC(Mekong River Commission) was one of the first organisations to be formed to ensure sustainable water management and water resource development but proved ineffective during the heavy drought of 2015. The lack of China and Myanmar in the grouping added to the woes and there were no proper checks and balances. MRC was also more aligned with the environmental ministries that were weak in power and the lack of progress was also due to economic interests taking precedence over environmental interests.
There was also a decreased scope of community and civil society participation. These factors led to the formation of LMC(Lancang Mekong Cooperation) in 2016, which included all six members of the Mekong River basin. LMC was proposed as an initiative for comprehensive development in Mekong, focusing on cross-border tourism, water safety, agriculture and fishing. LMC gives an unfavourable advantage to China, leaving little voice for the downstream countries.
Challenges and Opportunities
Adding to the lack of coordination, the governance challenges are compounded by political and security challenges. Rapid dam construction has exacerbated climate change factors, resulting in the loss of indigenous species of flora, affecting the coastal communities, changing the flow and nature of the river and affecting the quality and flow of water. Rapid urbanisation decreases the area of agricultural land while increasing the demand for clean water, which is only going to increase. Moreover, persistent water conflicts and declining water security affect poor and vulnerable communities. With the rise in population pressure, the natural capacity of the system gets affected, raising the call for improving the economic potential of the Mekong system through primary domestic usage, hydropower, navigation, irrigation, and drought management to increase the economic prosperity of the region.
In this regard, the primary challenge is attracting significant investments and ensuring that development doesn’t impede environmental stability and international agreements. Over and above, the current challenges will be in shifting economic and political conditions, given the differences in the energy demand, stressing the need for shifts in the method of hydropower development, as frequent climate shocks have made hydropower a less reliable source, and prioritising the capacities of shifting to other forms of energy production.
Consistent participation of stakeholders is required to address water security issues in the Mekong River basin. Furthermore, strengthening the risk reduction activities of leaders of basin countries is important. On the whole, cooperation mechanisms should be in place to bring Mekong water security into the ASEAN forums and conferences agenda.
Since the Mekong is vital for the countries it flows through, the cooperation between the parties is essential to ensure fairness, sustainable development and environmental protection while building facilities on this river.
As far as integrated water management is concerned, it is necessary to reform processes towards transparency and consensus-based decision-making. Food policies of the governments should also aim at encouraging food exports and attaining food self-sufficiency for Mekong, to not lose its importance as a major breadbasket of the region.
Agnes is a Research Intern at NIICE she has completed her Masters in Diplomacy, Law and Business from Jindal School of International Affairs(JSIA), India.
