Mekong - U.S. Partnership
On October 10, more than 30 officials from 10 Thailand government agencies met with counterparts from seven U.S. Government agencies and programs under the Enhancing Capacity for Low Emission Development Strategies (EC-LEDS) initiative. EC-LEDS is a global U.S. Government program that supports the efforts of more than 20 partner countries to accelerate sustainable, climate-resilient economic growth while slowing the growth of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Based on an interactive process, workshop attendees identified six priorities for joint EC-LEDS activities in Thailand: improving measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) processes as a foundation for a national GHG emissions registry system; GHG inventory development; LEDS implementation; technology for GHG mitigation; collaboration on LEDS-related training programs; and assessing development impacts.
Organized by the USAID Low Emissions Asian Development (LEAD) program, the workshop included representatives from Thailand’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and other key agencies. US Government participation included representatives from USAID, the U.S. Forest Service, and the US Government’s SilvaCarbon program, as well as four USAID regional programs – LEAD, the Lowering Emissions in Asia’s Forests (LEAF) program, the Grassroots Equity and Enhanced Networks in the Mekong (GREEN Mekong) program, and the Private Financing Advisory Network-Asia (PFAN-Asia) program.
Source: USAID/RDMA Regional Environment Office Weekly Update
