WCS congratulates the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Australian Embassy in Laos, Energy Lab Asia, and all partners on the successful Lao PDR Clean Energy Day 2026.
At the event, Ms. Manoly Sisavanh, WCS Lao PDR Deputy Country Director, highlighted the importance of bringing biodiversity and environmental considerations into energy, mining, infrastructure, and broader development and investment planning from the beginning; and of working together across government, project developers, investors, financial institutions, civil society, communities, and other partners.
“As we heard today, Laos needs energy. Laos needs investment. Laos needs economic development. But Laos also has national and international commitments on biodiversity targets, emissions reduction and climate targets—because these natural systems are fundamental to our economy, our resilience and our wellbeing. So I think what I want to bring to the attention of all of us is that we should try to reconcile economic development and conservation, as complementary goals for a stronger, more competitive, and more sustainable future for Laos.”—Manoly Sisavanh, WCS Lao PDR
With more than three decades of conservation work in Lao PDR, WCS has seen both the opportunities that development can bring and the challenges that can arise when environmental and biodiversity considerations come too late in the process. Finding the right balance starts with good information, early planning, and strong cross-sectoral and multi-stakeholder partnerships.
Under the direction of Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, WCS and scientific partners are developing a Biodiversity Value Map to provide decision-makers with better spatial information for development planning. This work will help identify areas of exceptional biodiversity value, such as areas of high species richness, high levels of endemism, or species and ecosystems at high risk of extinction, where biodiversity values are irreplaceable and impacts could be irreversible. In these areas, development impacts should be avoided altogether. It will also help identify areas where responsible investment and development can move forward with greater clarity and lower environmental and social risk.
At the project level, WCS supports Laos in the rigorous application of the Biodiversity Mitigation Hierarchy, beginning with the most important question: can the impact be avoided altogether? This can mean changing a project’s location, design, or approach so that areas of high biodiversity value are not affected.
“Avoid what we can. Minimize what we will impact. Restore what we do impact. And if there is still impact after all this, responsibly offset what remains, with rigor.”— Manoly Sisavanh, WCS Lao PDR
Together, Biodiversity Value Mapping for spatial planning and the Biodiversity Mitigation Hierarchy at the project level can help move us beyond project-by-project impact mitigation toward earlier, system-level planning—bringing biodiversity information into development and investment decisions.
“Good biodiversity information is investment intelligence.”— Manoly Sisavanh, WCS Lao PDR
Biodiversity is a key part of the solution to a just and clean energy transition. By bringing biodiversity information into development decisions early and strengthening collaboration across sectors and stakeholders, we can shape pathways where energy, prosperity, people, and nature thrive together.
This work contributes to the objectives of the Forest Governance, Markets and Climate (FGMC) Programme, which supports improved management of environmental and social risks associated with development activities affecting forests and biodiversity.
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