Enhancing Community-Based Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction in the Greater Mekong Subregion

The document identifies a critical gap between national-level policy frameworks for climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) and their implementation at the community level in the Greater Mekong Subregion. It argues that while GMS countries have foundational laws and policies, these are often siloed, lacking consistent standards and decentralized finance. The report advocates for scaling up successful community-led models, improving the accessibility of climate finance for local actors, and integrating DRR and CCA into a single, cohesive approach to better serve vulnerable populations, including women and ethnic minorities.

• There is a significant disconnect between national policy progress and community outcomes in the GMS, largely due to institutional siloes and a lack of consistent integration at local levels.
• The absence of standardized guidelines and tools for CBA and CBDRR creates confusion among different providers and reduces the overall impact of interventions.
• Climate and disaster finance in the GMS is inadequate and often inaccessible to local organizations, with a bias toward central government spending on disaster response rather than risk reduction.
• Vulnerable groups, particularly women, children, and ethnic minorities, bear a disproportionate impact from climate change and disasters, yet they are often excluded from decision-making processes.
• Effective risk reduction requires shifting the role of communities from passive beneficiaries to drivers of change, leveraging their inherent local knowledge and coping mechanisms.
• Certain national programs in China and Vietnam serve as potential models for scaling up community-based efforts across the GMS.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (n.d.). Enhancing Community-Based Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction in the Greater Mekong Subregion. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/attachment-2-3-ccesp-policy-study-enhancing-community-based-adaptation-and-drr-in-the-gms.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Enhancing Community-Based Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction in the Greater Mekong Subregion. n.d. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/attachment-2-3-ccesp-policy-study-enhancing-community-based-adaptation-and-drr-in-the-gms.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Enhancing Community-Based Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction in the Greater Mekong Subregion |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/attachment-2-3-ccesp-policy-study-enhancing-community-based-adaptation-and-drr-in-the-gms.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitutendenhancing, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Enhancing Community-Based Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction in the Greater Mekong Subregion}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/attachment-2-3-ccesp-policy-study-enhancing-community-based-adaptation-and-drr-in-the-gms.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }