Challenges, Opportunities, and Recommendations for a Just Transition in Laos

Laos is highly vulnerable to climate change but has low per capita emissions, with the transport sector being the primary source of CO2. While the government has set ambitious goals to increase forest cover to 70% and expand hydropower, these policies risk negatively impacting the livelihoods of the 70% of the population working in agriculture and forestry. The report identifies significant barriers to a just transition, including low awareness of the concept among policymakers, limited governmental capacity, data gaps, and a heavy reliance on external financing. It recommends improving cross-governmental coordination, enhancing data collection, and establishing participatory mechanisms to engage poor and marginalised communities in climate planning to ensure equitable benefit-sharing.

• Laos has low greenhouse gas emissions relative to global and regional standards, though they are increasing. In 2016, total CO2 emissions were 4.5 million tons, with the transport sector contributing the largest share at 36.9%.
• The government of Laos has set a target to increase national forest cover from 40% to 70%. To achieve this, it has implemented a ban on the export of logs and sawn wood, a National REDD+ Strategy, and a National Forest Monitoring System.
• Climate mitigation policies in the forestry and agriculture sectors may worsen poverty and inequality because 70% of the population works in these sectors. Specific risks include the loss of livelihoods due to bans on swidden agriculture, timber harvesting, and the collection of non-timber forest products (NTFP).
• There is a policy tension between forest conservation and energy goals, as the government aims to rapidly increase hydropower capacity from 6,000 MW to over 14,000 MW, an activity that contributes to forest loss through 'salvage logging' and flooding.
• The implementation of a just transition in Laos is hindered by low awareness of the concept among stakeholders, limited technical capacity within the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s Department of Climate Change, and a lack of cross-governmental coordination.
• Laos faces significant financial and data constraints, including large budget deficits and a heavy reliance on external donors, as well as a shortage of transparent, up-to-date data gathering systems.

APA

Kyophilavong, P. (2022). Challenges, Opportunities, and Recommendations for a Just Transition in Laos. Climate Strategies. https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Challenges-Opportunities-and-Recommendations-for-a-Just-Transition-in-Laos.pdf

Chicago

Kyophilavong, Phouphet. Challenges, Opportunities, and Recommendations for a Just Transition in Laos. Climate Strategies, 2022. https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Challenges-Opportunities-and-Recommendations-for-a-Just-Transition-in-Laos.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kyophilavong |first1=Phouphet |title=Challenges, Opportunities, and Recommendations for a Just Transition in Laos |publisher=Climate Strategies |date=2022 |url=https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Challenges-Opportunities-and-Recommendations-for-a-Just-Transition-in-Laos.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kyophilavong2022challenges, author = {Kyophilavong, Phouphet}, title = {{Challenges, Opportunities, and Recommendations for a Just Transition in Laos}}, institution = {Climate Strategies}, year = {2022}, url = {https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Challenges-Opportunities-and-Recommendations-for-a-Just-Transition-in-Laos.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }