Following the completion of its TNA, the Technology Action Plan for establishing an end-to-end early warning system that delivers effective, accurate and real-time disaster detection and warnings was expected to be commenced immediately. This will safeguard the population and livestock in 160 villages across thirteen provinces against reoccurring floods and the diseases that follow.
Laos is located in Southeast Asia, between Thailand and Vietnam, and is a mountainous and forested country. Its economy relies heavily on the agriculture sector, which employs more than 70% of the population. Flooding disasters are taking a toll, currently creating yearly losses amounting to USD 100 million and destroying 45,000 ha of rice fields. These numbers are growing as overall climate-related disasters and economic losses are projected to amount to USD 278 million per year in the future. Following floods and changes in climate, diseases emerge among humans, livestock and crops. In 2005 10,000 cases of disease were recorded as having been caused by climate change, stressing the need for an early warning system to notify the population of disasters in due time.
Laos completed its TNA in 2017. The results of the TNA and the chosen technologies in the water sector are expected to enhance foreign investment and increase access to clean water for the Lao people, and they have also contributed to the NDC. The TNA serves as a guideline for the climate adaption and disaster resilience initiatives that are to be implemented between 2018 and 2020. Among these is livestock disease prevention and control. Diseases in livestock claim USD 40 million yearly and affect fourteen out of the country’s eighteen provinces and many smallholder livestock keepers. New technologies such as teleconnection, epidemiological and environmental niche modelling and reproduction number (R0) maps are being implemented. This will improve the surveillance of livestock disease epidemics and help combat the spread of epidemic diseases.
Deforestation has reduced the area covered by forest by 40%. The prioritized technologies in the forestry sector are planned to regenerate 6,000,000 ha of forest naturally, as well as expanding the forested area by an additional 500,000 ha, an effective carbon sink could see Lao forests sequestering 69,183 ggCO2.
Laos’ TNA contributes to the following Sustainable Development Goals:
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