President Obama’s fast-approaching visit to Vietnam provides opportunities to discuss one of the most pressing challenges facing mainland Southeast Asia: water resource management in the context of drought, the impacts of climate change, and continued development of hydropower and rising tensions over water. Stimson’s Southeast Asia Program’s Deputy Director Brian Eyler shared his insights after recently returning from a regional conference on trans-boundary water management in Can Tho, Vietnam and meetings with policy-makers in Hanoi about the rising challenge of resource management in an increasingly unstable climate. Eyler also shared first-hand analysis of the severe drought currently affecting the Mekong Delta. Panelists discussed how climate change and water management are becoming issues of national security in Vietnam and how the U.S. Rebalance to Asia provides new opportunities for the United States to engage on climate resilience and adaptation.
WHAT: A discussion on climate change and water management in Southeast Asia. Watch the full event below or click here.