The GCC Proposes Framework to Tackle Hydropower Contentions that Brings Forward a New Era of Cooperation

Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Russia, Australia and Japan discussing potential collaborations in CLEAR. 

• The GCC proposed a new framework, CLEAR, aiming to tackle cross-border, environmental, and governance issues in the Mekong River, garnering much support from nations.

SINGAPORE: Hydropower has long been a flashpoint for contention for the countries surrounding the Mekong River. The river, Asia’s third-largest transboundary river, stretches through China and six of ten ASEAN nations. 

One major point of dispute is the building of hydropower dams by upstream nations. Over the past years, numerous hydropower dams have been constructed along the Mekong River, with 11 out of 430 of them located in China.

The dams jeopardise the river’s ability to support biodiversity by altering the river’s natural flow and disrupting the migration patterns of the fish. This affects the livelihood of countries located downstream, such as Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, as it creates food insecurity for citizens there who rely on the river for agriculture and fisheries. 

In addition to this, China extracts water from the dam during the dry season, hindering flow and exacerbating drought that downstream countries are currently facing.

Thus, implementing viable solutions that can minimise harm to the environment and negative impacts to downstream communities has been placed on high priority in ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM). Regarding this, GCC’s proposed framework offers a promising solution to the Mekong’s hydropower challenges. 

To address the question regarding responsible development of upstream hydropower projects, the GCC has come up with a new solution with the assistance of other countries such as Indonesia, China, and Myanmar. 

The Cooperation, Legal accountability and EAR framework, also known as CLEAR, offers a beacon of hope for countries surrounding the Mekong River. It aims to tackle cross-border environmental and governance issues in the river.

The solid three-part plan involves cooperation between upstream countries, through regularly measured social, environmental and economic impacts caused by dams. Furthermore, penalties will be imposed on upstream ASEAN member states (AMS) if their dams negatively affect midstream and downstream member states. 

Additionally, CLEAR will emphasise promoting mutual cooperation between AMS through discussions during ASEAN Cooperation on Energy’s (ACE) biannual summits between AMS and observer states. 

CLEAR requires legal accountability for midstream and downstream countries, where all hydroelectric projects must undergo independent environmental and corruption audits, and strict penalties will be imposed if such countries are discovered to be greenwashing. 

CLEAR also involves EAR enforcement, where the EAR committee will conduct regular investigations to uncover logging cases and report such cases promptly to ASEAN’s Committee of Permanent Representatives for further actions. 

“The GCC has proposed the idea of the CLEAR framework to encourage fair collaboration and accountability of all ASEAN member states. This is beneficial for all ASEAN member states and also, by extension, good for the observer states like the GCC.” 

– The Minister of GCC 

The minister of GCC also added that the eradication of corruption in the Mekong River Basin will benefit observer states due to an increase in investor confidence, interest, and international cooperation. 

To assess CLEAR’s environmental impact, the GCC has also added a basin-wide Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), where all future hydropower projects on the Mekong River, particularly those upstream, will be subject to this assessment. EIA will be coordinated through a neutral technical body, with the assistance of observer states such as the GCC and Japan, which will offer funding and technical support through environmental consultants. EIA will be made public and shared with all basin states pre-construction. 

GCC’s frontier role in CLEAR is to incorporate joint data sharing between bordering nations such as Laos and China, and advocate for community efforts to achieve higher efficiency of the Mekong River's hydroelectric dams. 

When asked about Saudi Arabia’s role within CLEAR, a sponsor of CLEAR, the representative of Indonesia, mentioned that through acknowledging and agreeing with the CLEAR framework, Saudi Arabia will play an invaluable role within CLEAR. 

“Saudi Arabia has been strengthening ties with ASEAN member states, and will be able to work well with ASEAN nations to help CLEAR due to its great collaboration with the ASEAN countries.”

– The Minister of Indonesia 

The minister of GCC also added that there was a common sentiment among ASEAN Member States towards improving transparency within ASEAN and protecting the environment. This shows the high amounts of support CLEAR had received in AMEM. 

As the hydropower-related contentions in the Mekong River exacerbate the harmful effects of climate change on already vulnerable nations, the GCC’s new initiative offers a novel and effective framework to strategically combat this issue. 

By prioritizing mutual cooperation and legal accountability, the GCC is setting the precedent for a more sustainable future in ASEAN.

Bibliography 

Buasawan Simmala, and Christy Lee. “China’s Mekong River Dams Expected to Worsen Southeast Asian Economies during Drought.” Voice of America. Voice of America (VOA News), August 4, 2023. 

https://www.voanews.com/a/china-s-mekong-river-dams-expected-to-worsen-southea st-asian-economies-during-drought-/7211918.html#. 

Mekong River Commission. “Hydropower – Mekong River Commission.” Mrcmekong.org, 2021. https://www.mrcmekong.org/hydropower/. 

Written by: Kyra Soh, Cha Yu Han, Rebecca Wong Ixin