PM Hun Sen promotes ‘green growth’
PM Hun Sen promotes ‘green growth’
Prime Minister Hun Sen said that Cambodia will strengthen and expand regional and international cooperation for sustainable development and promote the “concept of green” as mainstream.
His remarks were made at the 2nd Seoul Summit of Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G) on “Promoting Inclusive Green Recovery from Covid-19 Pandemic”, held on Monday via video conference in Seoul.
Mr Hun Sen spoke to world leaders saying that they all have to enhance the capacity for mitigation and adaptation to climate change through conserving natural resources, developing green parks and cities and building stronger institutional capacity on research in responding to climate change as well as the needs in dealing natural disasters.
He said that the promotion of sustainable development can be achieved by creating a favourable environment to mobilise additional resources to ensure the continuation of efforts related to climate change prevention through the implementation of green growth.
P4G is an international forum seeking to build public-private partnerships against climate change.
Hosted by South Korea, nearly 70 world leaders joined the two-day virtual 2021 P4G Seoul Summit under the slogan, “Inclusive Green Recovery towards Carbon Neutrality.”
In his opening speech for the 2021 P4G Seoul Summit that kicked off on Sunday, President Moon Jae-in said: “The Republic of Korea will pay it forward by actively working with developing nations, the same way we succeeded in our reforestation with the help of the international community.”
“We will assist these countries that rely heavily on coal-fired power plants in their efforts to move towards a cleaner source of energy,” he said.
“To that end, the Korean government will expand its share of its climate and green growth official development assistance, under the United Nations, by 2025 to aid nations that need assistance and establish a $5 million trust fund for a Green New Deal with the Global Green Growth Institute.”
Speaking during a press conference entitled “Climate change and its impact on Cambodia” at the Office of the Council of Ministers yesterday, Environment Ministry spokesman Neth Pheaktra said not only do figures provide evidence of the impact of climate change in the Kingdom but also show the risk global warming poses to its future.
“Between 1996 and 2020, Cambodia witnessed 3,681 floods, 1,375 droughts and 1,917 hurricanes, all of which killed 1,292 people and destroyed 14,761 houses, 1,875 hospitals, 1,000 schools and damaged three million hectares of crops,” he said.
“We cannot begin to determine the amount of money and grief this has cost the country over the years. However, to give some idea, in 2013, floods alone led to Cambodia losing $350 million. Around 300,000 hectares of farmland and 200,000 homes were damaged with 150 fatalities,” he said.
Pheaktra said the government responded by quadrupling the budget for climate change to around $900 million, spread across 14 ministries and institutions working together under the Climate Change Adaptation Project, which is set to run until 2030.
Department of Climate Change director Hak Mao said climate change is caused by both natural and human factors.
“Naturally occurring climate change effects have resulted in declining agricultural yields and limited resources which in turn has led to rising costs of food and water,” he said.
Under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which Cambodia joined in 2002, least developed countries such as Cambodia are encouraged to develop national adaptation programmes of action (NAPAs).
Support for developing these NAPAs is provided through the Global Environment Facility, a multi-donor facility.
Cambodia’s NAPA was endorsed by the government in 2006. Cambodia’s NAPA identifies priority interventions designed to address the urgent needs for adaptation in key sectors, primarily agriculture, water resources, the coastal zone and human health. Khmer Times
