October 5^th, 2011

Starting the final day of the Second National Forum on Climate Change, Mr. Rafael Moreno, Charge d’Affaire for the Delegation of the European Union to Cambodia, reminded participants to take heed of international collaborations in dealing with this urgent matter: ‘Mitigation action should be collective and Adaptation action should be now.’

Over the last three days of the forum, international and regional experiences in developing and implementing climate change agendas were shared and reviewed by over 300 participants and by the key actors in the implementation of climate change activities in Cambodia. The climate change issues covered spanned from adaptation, mitigation, cross sector issues, financing and policy frameworks. The roadmap towards a Cambodian Climate Change Strategic Plan (CCCSP) was presented and widely discussed. This policy document will pave the way for a range of cross sector strategies and action plans at national and sub-national level. “Climate change is a development issue, it affects economic growth and livelihoods.” said H.E. Ros Seilava, Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, before inviting speakers to address the policy framework for future climate change interventions.

This National Forum is one of the last opportunities for Cambodia to prepare its positions to the 17th Conference of the Parties (CoP-17) to be held in Durban, South Africa, at the end of the year. It is hoped that COP-17 will be a chance for all nations to agree to tackle climate change unilaterally. Cambodia’s position for CoP-17 was hinted at by H.E. Dr. Mok Mareth, Senior Minister and Minister of Environment, and Chair of the National Climate Change Committee. “We are indeed the victim of a problem of which we are not the cause. Nevertheless, we wish to be part of the solution of this global problem” said H.E. Dr. Mok Mareth. “Addressing climate change makes sense, politically, economically, environmentally and technologically. We believe we can turn the climate change crisis into a new opportunity for a more sustainable development. We must switch our development path into a greener, low carbon and more climate resilient mode.”

In reference to the upcoming COP-17, Sum Thy, Director of the Climate Change Department of the Ministry of Environment specified that “we are lobbying to ask developed countries to provide at least 1.5 percent of their respective GDP as new funding in addition to pledges under ODA”. In earlier statements, Sum Thy had also indicated that Cambodia would need approximately 200 million dollars to fully Implement the urgent and immediate adaptation actions proposed under the National Adaptation Programme of Actions to Climate Change.