Climate Change Tackled by Australia-MRC Partnership

PRLog (Press Release) - Apr 02, 2008 -
The Mekong River Commission (MRC) and the Government of Australia are joining together to study climate change in the Mekong region, and to help the governments of the area develop strategies to adapt to new environmental conditions.

Under the new agreement, researchers from Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and the MRC will work together to assess the potential impacts of climate change on the environment in the countries of the Lower Mekong Basin: Cambodia, the Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam.

The partnership is funded by a 450,000 Australian dollar (US$409,000) contribution from the Australian state development agency, AusAID, to CSIRO and the MRC. Jeremy Bird, the new Chief Executive Officer of the MRC, called the initiative “an important step forward in meeting the challenges posed by possible climate change”.

“Australia is already providing important support to the MRC’s work across the basin”, said Mr Bird, “particularly in the fields of basin development planning and capacity building. This initiative will show the value of technical cooperation and the MRC’s ability to coordinate scientific research within the region”.

The MRC will use the results of the project in advising its Member States on how to minimise the disadvantages that climate change will have on the poorest people of the Lower Mekong Basin.