Climate risk country profile: Lao PDR

This profile is intended to serve as a public good to facilitate upstream country diagnostics, policy dialogue, and strategic planning by providing comprehensive overviews of trends and projected changes in key climate parameters, sector-specific implications, relevant policies and programs, adaptation priorities and opportunities for further actions. L ao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia. Lao PDR is endowed with abundant natural resources, such as water, forests, minerals and biodiversity. Lao PDR is characterized by a tropical climate, influenced by the southeast monsoon which brings 70% of annual rainfall and high humidity.

This climate risk profile offers several key messages regarding the climate risk future of Lao PDR, including: 

•  Lao PDR faces projected warming of 3.6°C by the 2090s against the baseline conditions over 1986–2005, under the highest emissions pathway (RCP8.5).
• Lao PDR is amongst the most vulnerable countries to projected climate change trends, as its communities face significant climate-related hazards that are exacerbated by poverty, malnourishment, and high exposure of poor and marginalized communities.
• A significant adaptation effort is required to address reductions in yields driven by projected increases in the incidence of extreme heat during the growing season of staple crops such as rice, particularly for poorer communities operating subsistence and rain-fed agriculture.