Achieving Environmental Sustainability in Myanmar

With many environmental assets, and industrial pressure only beginning to develop, Myanmar could effectively form policies and regulations that ensure sustainable growth and conservation of key natural resources. Myanmar’s long isolation from international markets and sources of finance historically limited development, and thus, the pressure on its environment. Many of its resources remain relatively intact, despite an absence of effective environmental regulations. Yet, as the country integrates into the global economy and its economic development accelerates, resource degradation is rising rapidly.This paper aims to identify current and future environmental problems in Myanmar, the pressures underpinning them, and the policy measures that can manage them.