The Department of Climate Change (DCC) of the General Secretariat of the National Council for Sustainable Development (GSSD) under the support from Cambodia Climate Change Alliance-Phase 3 (CCCA3) virtually organized its 2nd Programme Executive Board meeting on 17th March 2021​​, chaired by H.E. Say Samal, the Minister of Environment and Chairman of the CCCA3. The meeting was participated by the CCCA3 Board members from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), Ministry of Environment (MoE), Ministry of Rural Development (MRD), Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT), Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS), Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), the development partners, including the European Union, UNDP, and Embassy of Sweden and national and international observers of the relevant line ministries.

In the opening remarks, H.E. Say Samal expressed that Cambodia, like the rest of the world has had to face the unprecedented impact of the COVID19 pandemic. Under the proper leadership of the Royal Government of Cambodia, the COVID19 is under control and its impacts on the human health was minimized, including the acceleration of vaccination for government officials and the public. The economic impacts of COVID19 are very severe, but we should keep in mind that the impacts of climate change pose an even greater risk to our livelihood and development plan. Now is a good time to ensure that our development path is one that will make our economy and society more resilient to external shocks, whether they are due to climate change, health risks or other issues.

At the meeting the main achievements of the CCCA3 implementation in 2020 were presented and the annual workplan for 2021-2022 was approved. The meeting also discussed the long-term low emission development strategy, NDC implementation plan and monitoring of the climate change response, 2nd round of innovation grants, partnership with Ministry of Economy and Finance and other climate change-related issues in Cambodia.