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The Mekong Thought Leadership and Think Tanks Network is a 3-year program supported by the Australian Government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). Led by the Stockholm Environment Institute - Asia Centre, the program aims to develop evidence-based solutions for water, energy, and development challenges in the Mekong Region to improve policy and practice for vulnerable and marginalized communities.

This policy report analyzes the intersection of climate change and ASEAN-facilitated trade and investment policies within the Mekong subregion, highlighting the tension between economic growth through trade liberalization and the vulnerability of natural resources to climate risks.

This report examines the tension between trade and investment liberalization and environmental protection within the Mekong subregion of ASEAN, highlighting the inadequacy of current multilateral efforts and the heavy reliance on foreign donors for environmental policy initiatives.

This briefing examines the tension between trade liberalization and environmental protection within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), with a specific focus on the Mekong subregion. It argues that while regional strategies and national laws exist, actual implementation is often weak, frequently driven by foreign donor interests rather than internal political will, and hindered by a regional preference for non-binding 'soft law'.

This fact sheet examines the challenges of balancing trade liberalization and environmental protection in the Mekong Subregion. It highlights the gap between regional policy rhetoric and actual implementation, the impact of illegal trade on biodiversity, and the dominant role of foreign donors in driving environmental agendas within trade policy.