Climate change would reduce entire GDP by 2.5% in 2030, and 9.8% in 2050 under the main scenario, where the global rise in temperatures is kept below 2oC by 2100 and Cambodia maintains current levels of investment in climate change adaptation. Such decrease corresponds to an average annual reduction in GDP growth rate of 0.3% between 2016 and 2050 (from 6.9% to 6.6.%) and would delay Cambodia’s accession to Upper Middle-Income Country status by one year.
The government has dedicated around 1% of GDP in public expenditure to respond to climate change, wherein 2015 the public spending on climate change actions was 1.2% of GDP based on the regular public expenditure review. The Ministry of Economy and Finance has included climate change as a consideration in the national budget guideline and played an important role in mobilization and management of external and domestic resources for the climate change response. The government has built a conducive dialogue with the private sector to create an enabling environment for green investments and green finance. The investment in climate change will bring not only the direct return on investment through reducing investment risk but also the better socio-economic benefits at large.
For external resources, Cambodia has sought financial support from bilateral (Australia, China, EU/EC, France, Germany, Japan, Republic of Korea, USA, Sweden, etc.) and multilateral partners (ADB, UN Agencies, GEF, IFAD, Global Fund, World Bank, etc.). Furthermore, Cambodia has prepared itself to get direct access to the emerging global climate funds such as the Green Climate Fund and other financial mechanisms under the climate change Paris Agreement.
