Current institutional arrangements for climate change are enabling government and non-government actors to participate more effectively in the implementation of the country’s response.
The establishment in May of 2015 of the National Council for Sustainable Development (NCSD), the inter-ministerial body that oversees climate change response, represents a landmark in the national process of institutional reform, enabling a more effective, inclusive and comprehensive response. Its General Secretariat (GSSD), and in particular the Department of Climate Change (DCC), as well as the multisectoral Climate Change Technical Working Group (CCTWG), play a key role, coordinating the implementation of the country’s climate change response.
- NCSD has Samdach Prime Minister as its Honorable Chair, Minister of Environment as its Chair, and a Secretary General. Its members include senior representatives from 36 ministries/agencies and all provincial governors and municipally. The Council oversees the country efforts to respond to climate changes, and is mandated to prepare, coordinate and monitor the implementation of relevant policies, strategies, legal instruments, plans, and programmes, including the implementation of the CCCSP and sectoral climate change action plans.
- CCTWG, the inter-ministerial Climate Change Technical Working Group established in 2017, is chaired by a Deputy Secretary-General of the NCSD and its membership totals 25 members from 19 different ministries/agencies. CCTWG provides technical and advisory support on climate change to the members of the NCSD, with terms of reference covering legal policy and regulatory frameworks, knowledge management and quality assurance, monitoring and evaluation, reporting on the sectoral responses, reporting to UNFCCC, technical appraisal, resource mobilization and partnerships, capacity development, and awareness and communication on climate change.
- Coordination mechanism with non-government partners – development partners, academia, NGOs and private sector entities – is secured through biennial joint meetings with CCTWG.
- Department of Climate Change (DCC), part of the General Secretariat of the National Council for Sustainable Development since the establishment of NCSD in 2015, is at the forefront of Cambodia’s efforts to implement the country’s response to climate change, serving also as the national focal point to the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change. DCC’s chief responsibilities include:
- Develop climate relevant legal and fiscal instruments, policies, strategies and action plans, programs and projects to mitigate greenhouse gases (GHGs) and adapt to climate change
- Coordinate and support the implementation of relevant legal, policy, planning instruments, conducting regular monitoring, evaluation and reporting
- Coordinate and provide technical support to the development and management of GHGs inventories, National Communications, Biennial Update Reports (BURs) and deliver government commitments under United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and other international bodies for climate actions
- Mobilize and manage resources and build partnerships to scale up implementation of climate change response