Our Program

Securing access to information for vulnerable populations is key to GEA’s response to the climate challenge. Partnering with the Open Development Mekong (ODM) network, GEA is working to get a range of information directly and indirectly related to climate change on its data platforms. Recognizing that many vulnerable populations lack internet access, GEA and ODM are working on innovative ways to get critical data to those most profoundly affected by climate change.

GEA is also working throughout Southeast Asia on realizing the public participation aspirations of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) regimes. This work is particularly timely because building robust EIA and SEA programs is at the heart of legal and institutional reforms throughout the region. GEA and its local partners are already providing public access to EIAs on the Open Development platform in Cambodia and Myanmar. Such transparency of access opens up huge opportunities for robust public participation in the EIA regimes of these countries, and a near-term GEA strategic goal is expanding non-governmental EIA and SEA access throughout the Lower Mekong region.

recent work

On the coast of Cambodia, GEA has joined forces with a global conservation organization and an international leader in marine conservation private equity investment, building support for Cambodia’s first marine park. This effort will preserve the only stretch of Cambodian coast free of environmentally devastating tourist development, thereby enhancing Cambodia’s climate preparedness and response.

As a major wildlife protection organization considers expanding its already extensive protected area wildlife management program in Cambodia, GEA is offering strategic policy advice to guide this process in a more open, participatory and environmentally sound manner.