Relying on published literature, we reviewed water-energy-food issues in Lao PDR in the context of a policy shift to more sustainable ‘green growth’ and significantly increased infrastructure investment resulting from China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The BRI provides the prospect for the country to address its infrastructure deficit and transform from a ‘land-locked’ to a ‘land-linked’ country. However, great care is needed to ensure that future investments do not result in further environmental degradation and harm to communities. An integrated ‘nexus’ approach, in which enhanced water management is central, is a prerequisite for more inclusive and sustainable development.

The summary and the conclusions presented here are based on the results of four case studies, three for drinking water and one for soil and water conservation. The cases were selected from the projects under the Sino-German IESP ("Integriertes Ernaehrungssicherungsprogramm"; Integrated Food Security Programme) in Shandong, People's Republic of China. The aim of the study was to do an economic analysis of the selected cases, in order to answer questions about the sustainability ofthe projects' benefits. The selected drinking water projects include the deep well in Quanziyu village, the big-mouth well in Mawo, and the cisterns in Xiyu. The projects vary in technology, age, and village context (e.g. village size and wealth). The soil and water conservation project covers the whole water catchment area around Mawo village. All projects are located in the county of Pingyi, except for Xiyu, which belongs to Yishui county. In the section A, the main results and conclusions from the drinking water case studies are presented. After a brief introduction, the main findings are explained in general. Next, the situation of each project, as related to costs and water charges, is described in more detail. Finally, an overview of the results from the benefit analysis is given. The section B deals with the main results and conclusions concerning the soil and water conservation project. The results from the financial appraisal of all project components taken together are summarised, before the individual components are described separately.

The sustainable development goals and the Paris agreement target a global cleaner energy transition with wider adaptation, poverty reduction and climate resilience benefits. Hydropower development in the transboundary Koshi river basin presents an intervention that can support the sustainable development goals while meeting the regional commitments to the Paris agreement This study aims to quantify the benefits of eleven proposed water resource development projects in the transboundary basin (4 storage and 7 run-of-the-river hydropower dams) in terms of hydroelectric power generation, crop production and flood damage reduction. A modular hydro-economic model is constructed by soft coupling hydrological and crop growth simulation models to an economic optimization model. It assesses the potential of the interventions to break the vicious cycle of poverty and water, food, and energy insecurity. Unlike previous studies, the model a) incorporates the possibility of using hydropower to lift groundwater for irrigation as well as flood regulation and b) quantifies the resilience of the stated benefits under future climatic scenarios (from downscaled general circulation models) affecting both river flows and crop growth. The results show significant potential economic benefit generated from electricity production, increased agricultural production, and flood damage control at the basin scale. The estimated annual benefits are around USD 2.3 billion under the baseline scenario and USD 2.4 billion under a future (RCP 4.5) climate scenario, compared to an estimated annual investment cost of USD 0.7 billion. The robustness of the estimated benefits illustrates the climate resilience of the water resource development projects. Contrary to the commonly held view that the benefits of these proposed projects in the Koshi river basin are limited to hydropower, the irrigation and flood regulation benefits account for 40 percent of the total benefits. The simulated scenarios also show substantial irrigation gains from the construction of the ROR schemes, provided the generated power is used for groundwater irrigation. The integrated modelling framework and results provide useful policy insights for evidence-based decision-making in transboundary river basins around the globe facing the challenges posed by the water-food-energy nexus.

The report aims to provide critical input to the Mekong River Commission's (MRC) regional Climate Change and Adaptation Initiative (CCAI) which was launched shortly after the formulation of this project. The CCAI is a collaborative regional initiative designed to address the shared climate change adaptation challenges of LMB countries in response to the potential effects of climate change on the socio-economic characteristics and natural resources of the LMB region. MRC has identified need for a more informed understanding of the potential impacts from climate change. To contribute to this aim, the purpose of this report is: 1. To present the framework of climate change analysis and its application to the Basin Development Plan (BDP) Scenarios; 2. To present the results from the application of the Decision Support Framework (DSF) models of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) in order to analyse the impacts of climate change and selected BDP Scenarios on flow regimes; 3. To present climate change impacts on floods and fisheries in the LMB; 4. To present the impact of climate change on the productivity of major crops grown in the basin and their consequences on the overall food security of the basin considering future population growth. 5. To present the results of applying simple adaptation strategies related to agriculture and food security; and 6. To determine further studies necessary to identify suitable adaptation strategies for dealing with such impacts.