Environment ministry shares five-point plan for carbon neutrality

A SENIOR Ministry of Environment official spoke about its five-point recommendation for the successful implementation of the Long-term Strategy for Carbon Neutrality (LTS4CN) as a long-term vision, in response to global climate change and as a move towards zero emissions in Cambodia by 2050.

Tin Ponlok – ministry secretary of state and second vice-president of the National Council for Sustainable Development (NCSD) – highlighted the five recommendations at an April 25 consultative meeting with the Climate Change Technical Working Group on the implementation of LTS4CN.

Ponlok said the five recommendations were coordination with relevant institutions; the use of scientific information in analysis for planning; integrating climate change into sectorial plans; fundraising; and awareness raising and education.

The meeting was held by the climate change department under the ministry’s General Department of Policy and Strategy, with the support of the Cambodia Climate Change Alliance (CCCA) programme. Plans to implement systems to monitor and evaluate the LTS4CN were discussed.

The meeting was attended by 44 people, including the environment ministry leaders, NCSD members, the climate change working group and educational institutions.

Ponlok said Cambodia had consistently demonstrated its commitment to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. In 2020, Cambodia was one of 72 countries that submitted their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) report to the UN ahead of schedule.

“Cambodia is the second least-developed country in the world and the first in ASEAN to submit their strategy to achieve zero gas emissions by 2050,” he added.

He said that although Cambodia is a small country in terms of its contributions to the causes of climate change, the Kingdom wished to show leadership by implementing climate action in line with its multilateral strategies. This strategy indicated the longterm commitment of all key areas of the government.

The ministry said the meeting also featured presentations and discussions on the planning of LTS4CN implementation, the integration of the LTS4CN into its monitoring and evaluation systems, and the updated NDCs report.

It said in 2020, Sweden and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) had provided $3.34 million in budgetary contributions for 2020-2022.