OPINION

Luang Prabang Dam a threat to World Heritage?

News, Philip Hirsch, Published on 29/06/2021

» The Lao government is intent on building a dam on the Mekong just upstream of the country’s old royal capital. Despite the project having undergone design work, environmental impact assessment and a prior consultation process managed by the Mekong River Commission (MRC), no heritage impact assessment has been carried out to date — despite requests by Unesco’s World Heritage Centre dating back as far as 2012 that the Lao government should do so. Ahead of next month’s World Heritage Committee meeting in China, of which Thailand is a current member, Unesco has asked that no construction work go ahead on the dam until a full heritage assessment has been completed.