Greater Mekong taps carbon market growth

Supportive government policy, deforestation threat and economic opportunity drive forward the region’s monetisation of forest carbon

Governments across the Mekong River Basin are turning to forest conservation and carbon markets to safeguard the region’s rich biodiversity, as well as provide an economic future for the diverse patchwork of more than 70m indigenous peoples and local communities. Much of the region’s population still relies on the river’s natural resources. Heavy deforestation driven by population growth and agriculture has already decimated forest cover across much of the Mekong Basin. Today, the result is that the region is among the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. “Thailand and Vietnam are laying the groundwork for regulated domestic markets, while others remain reliant on voluntary mech