In April of 2021 Sustainability East Asia LLC (SEA) was awarded a contract from the EBRD for Water Conservation and Environmental Sustainability Capacity Building. Two of the most pressing issues in Mongolia relate to conservation of water and biodiversity.
This contract builds on SEA’s current role as the Secretariat of the Sustainable Water Roundtable (SWR), a voluntary organisation of mining companies (currently 12 members) dedicated to working together to share information and promote sustainable use of water within the mining sector in Mongolia. As the original International Finance Corporation and World Bank financing of the initiative ended last year, this funding will assist the SWR to carry out various tasks planned for 2021.
SEA will use the funding to provide a technical lead and chair for the organisation, assist the SWR in implementing certain aspects of their 2021 work plan such as capacity training for SWR members, and raise awareness in the community, the industry and the government about conservation and the activities of the SWR.
This support will culminate in a multi-stakeholder technical conference related to sustainable water use and biodiversity, tentatively planned for March 2022. The conference will help promote dialogue between the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and the private sector. The technical conference will be important in raising awareness of the SWR to promote membership and the long-term sustainability of the group.