The Mekong is one of the longest rivers in the world, running through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Southern Vietnam. Seventy million people depend on the river for their livelihoods. Yet environmental damage from hydropower development and climate change threaten the river’s seasonal movements, sediment and fish supplies, and the physical security of people who live alongside it.

In 2024, the culmultiave effects of Typhoon Yagi and dam releases upstream led to widespread floooding in Laos, including in Vientiane Capital where the banks of the Mekong lie just five minutes from downtown and on the border with Nong Khai in Thailand.