About us
ICEM – the International Centre for Environmental Management is an award-winning, independent technical service centre that helps governments, the private sector, and communities develop and implement sustainable development policies. Established in 1999, ICEM is staffed by full-time international and national experts and operates through a core team specializing in climate change, biodiversity conservation, water resources management, strategic environmental assessment, disaster risk reduction, and environmental and social economics.
ICEM’s mission is to advance ecologically sustainable development—improving quality of life now and for future generations while preserving the ecological systems that sustain life.
Ecological sustainability means:
- Protecting biodiversity and maintaining essential ecological processes
- Acknowledging the climate change impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity
- Valuing environmental and natural system assets
- Aligning environmental and economic goals in all policies and activities
- Ensuring equity within and across generations
- Managing risk and uncertainty responsibly
- Promoting sustainable production and consumption to meet human needs with fewer resources and less waste.
ICEM focuses on developing the structures, tools, and mechanisms needed to integrate environmental integrity into development planning and decision-making.
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Bringing Nature Back
At ICEM, we work on “bringing nature back” in everything we do. In pursuit of our vision, we collaborate with institutions and governments that share our commitment to addressing the pressing environmental issues of our world. Together, we strive to enhance ecosystems, ensuring the preservation of the ecological processes on which life depends.
ICEM’s goal is to help halt and reverse biodiversity loss in ways which improve the livelihoods and wellbeing of communities depending on healthy ecosystems and the services they provide.
Delivering on that nature and social positive goal requires ICEM to implement and invest in programs and projects which improve the abundance, diversity, integrity and resilience of species, ecosystems and natural processes. It means:
- Protecting areas of high biodiversity and climate value.
- Building resilience to climate change through adaptation and mitigation
- Restoring degraded ecosystems, especially those with the most potential to capture and store carbon and to prevent and reduce the impact of natural disasters.
- Transforming production sectors – including agriculture and food systems, fisheries, forestry, infrastructure and resource extraction, so that they work with nature rather than against it.
- Demonstrating nature-positive financing so that governments, companies and financial institutions value and invest in nature, and monitor, assess and disclose the impact of their activities on biodiversity and climate change
- Enhancing ecologically sustainable livelihoods, especially of Indigenous peoples and local communities who are among nature’s most important custodians and directly dependent on healthy ecosystems.
Our Story
Founded in 1999, ICEM – the International Centre for Environmental Management established its reputation through a groundbreaking study on Protected Areas and Development (PAD) in the Lower Mekong, conducted in partnership with IUCN and leading conservation and donor organizations. The study explored the growing tensions between development and conservation, highlighting the connections between poverty reduction and protected areas.
Following the two-year Mekong PAD I study, the governments of Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Thailand formally adopted the PAD status reports and the accompanying national and regional action plans. In response, ADB engaged ICEM to support the creation of the Mekong Environment Operations Centre and the Biodiversity Corridors Initiative.
Since then, ICEM has expanded its reach across Asia and the Pacific, delivering projects that uphold our vision of restoring biodiversity and promoting ecological sustainability. Today, ICEM operates in 25 countries—from Kyrgyzstan to Fiji—while maintaining our long-standing headquarters in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Where We Work
ICEM operates across Asia and the Pacific, with active programs throughout South and Central Asia and Southeast Asia, particularly in the Mekong region. Our current portfolio includes projects in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. We have extensive experience delivering programs in Bhutan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Mongolia. In the Pacific, our work extends to Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Palau, the Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, and Vanuatu.
Our Partners
Bringing nature back is a global challenge. ICEM collaborates with many development assistance organisations, international and national conservation organisations, and regional, national and local government agencies to support sectors and communities improve their productivity, sustainability and well-being. ICEM’s partners in seeking nature-positive outcomes from all our activities are listed below.