Ministry to pilot school climate change project
THE Ministry of Environment has proposed a model project to be implemented in urban schools to mitigate the impact of climate change.
The pilot scheme will involve five target schools in the capital, including Preah Sisowath High School, Chaktomuk Primary School, Samdech Hun Sen Prey Veng Secondary School, Hun Sen Bun Rany Arun Vatey High School, and Phleung Chheh Roteh Primary School.
Ministr y spokesman Neth Pheaktra told The Post on Tuesday t hat t he project aimed to show other schools and communities what actions can be ta ken to adapt to t he intensified heat caused by climate change.
“The world is facing climate change. Cambodia has also been affected by the phenomena, so we launched the project to demonstrate how we can adapt ourselves.
“Our [change of ] lifestyle, protection of the environment and natural resources, and planting of trees in our surroundings, for example, could help reduce the impact of climate change. If the weather is too hot, we have trees as shelter,” he said.
Pheaktra said the ministry encouraged all schools throughout the Kingdom to create a green surrounding by planting trees and building rain-collecting basins and to be more environmentally friendly by installing more solar panels to increase efficient power usage.
He said t he ministr y will continue to execute t he project by collaborating with partners.
On its part, Pheaktra said t he ministr y’s administrative of ficia ls have a lso sta rted using electric bikes while performing t heir duties.
He said t he tria l use of ebikes among env ironment of ficia ls is meant to demonstrate how this mode of transportation could protect the surroundings from carbon diox ide emitted by fuelpowered vehicles.
The trial, he said, is also part of the ministry’s effort to formulate a policy to mitigate the effects of greenhouse gases and pollution.
Sar Mory, the vice-president of the Cambodian Youth Network working on environmental projects, welcomed the ministry’s move. He said most schools in Cambodia do not have enough trees to absorb heat.
“It’s good to start by planting more trees at schools to create a green surrounding. But for the project to be successful, stakeholders must commit to it. They need to take care of the trees. Previously, some NGOs started such tree planting projects but they failed,” he said.