The Mekong River Commission (MRC) is an intergovernmental agency with a history of promoting hydro development along the mainstream that dates back to the 1950s. Today the agency is supported by the lower Mekong governments and survives on international donor aid from the World Bank, Australia, Denmark, Finland, France, Japan and Sweden, amongst others. Despite its mandate to promote sustainable development of the Mekong River, the MRC has failed to adequately respond to the threat posed by Mekong mainstream dams.
Reports, Briefings and Websites
- The Governance Role of the MRC vis-a-vis Mekong mainstream dams, By Gary Lee and Natalia Scurrah, November 2008, Mekong Brief Number 10, Australian Mekong Resource Center [English] [Thai] [Khmer] [Vietnamese] [Chinese]
- 13 Years of bad luck? A reflection on MRC and civil society in the Mekong, Philip Hirsch, Watershed, Vol. 13 No. 2 November 2008
- “Striving for Excellence or Race to the Bottom?” International Rivers presentation at the MRC Hydropower Consultation, Vientiane, September 2008
- “Statement: Questioning the MRC’s “Sustainable hydropower development” The Thai People’s Network for Mekong (TPNM) and The Rivers Coalition in Cambodia (RCC), 24 September 2008
- Requests from Mekong civil society to the new MRC CEO – Regional Letter 27 March 2008 and response from MRC CEO, Jeremy Bird, 11 April 2008
- MRC’s looming crisis of legitimacy and relevancy challenges new CEO TERRA Press Release 27 March 2008
- Rivers Coalition in Cambodia requests a moratorium on the Don Sahong dam – Letter to H.E. Lim Kean Hor, CNMC Chair 27 March 2008
- Mekong River Commission facing crisis of legitimacy TERRA Press Release 13 November 2007
- International alarm raised on dams across Mekong mainstream, MRC must wake up to its responsibilities TERRA Press Release 12 November 2007
- The MRC: unwilling or unable to respond to concerns over mainstream dams Watershed Vol. 12 No. 2 March – October 2007
- The Mekong River Commission and the question of national interest(s) By Phillip Hirsch Watershed Vol. 12 No. 1 July 2006 – February 2007
- National Interests and Transboundary Water Governance in the Mekong, By Phillip Hirsch and Kurt Morck Jensen, May 2006, Australian Mekong Resource Center
Media