Phnom Penh, 27 June 2017 – Governmental ministries/agencies and development partners involved in the climate change response in Cambodia, met for the first time this morning to discuss the establishment of ongoing policy dialogue and coordination between Government and its climate change partners, and to address some of the most pressing coordination issues.
Key concerned stakeholders are Climate Change Technical Working Group members (CCTWG) composed of 19 ministries/agencies, Development Partners, NGOs, Private Sectors, and Academia, totally 49 institutions. This 1st meeting is organized by Department of Climate Change, General Secretariat of the National Council for Sustainable Development (NCSD) with support from Cambodia Climate Change Alliance (CCCA) under presidency of H.E. Tin Ponlok, Secretary General of the NCSD.
During his opening remarks, H.E. Tin Ponlok, Secretary General of the NCSD, emphasized that climate change is a cross-cutting issue, not a sector in itself. It would not make sense for Cambodia to develop isolated climate change programmes and manage them with a silo approach. The only way to achieve results is if climate change is integrated in the way business is done in the respective sectors. He mentioned that there is a lot of room for improvement in ensuring that climate finance is better aligned with national priorities and better coordinated among partners to avoid duplication. The development of pipeline projects for the Green Climate Fund is a good example of the need for better coordination among partners.
He also invited participants to work with private sector and academia in addressing climate change, suggesting that “we need to create an enabling environment for climate-smart investments, but also work through public-private partnerships to test and develop new business models which are not yet fully proven, particularly in climate change adaptation”.
The discussion had the following objectives:
- Agreed Terms of Reference for CCTWG and Development Partners meetings;
- Joint understanding on Cambodia’s Climate Change priorities, institutional and planning frameworks, and linkages to international processes (CCCSP/CCAPs and INDC, NAP processes);
- Development partners know where to report information on their climate change programmes and where to look for information on climate change activities in Cambodia;
- Joint understanding on framework and rules for the development, review and approval of carbon-finance / results-based payments projects;
- Joint understanding on the process for Cambodia’s engagement with the Green Climate Fund, including readiness programme and pipeline development.
