The Ministry of Environment, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on March 9 held a forum on Cambodia’s Cooling Action Plan and Passive Cooling Strategies for Sustainable Development in Cambodia.

Pak Sokharavuth, environment ministry secretary of state, said that Cambodia is a country vulnerable to the impacts caused by climate change so it has a high commitment to combating climate change.

He said Cambodia has prepared a Cooling Action Plan in line with the current situation in implementing the “Updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)”, which shows that Cambodia is committed to the need in future decades to achieve a vision that ensures low carbon emissions, climate change resilience and sustainable development.

Sokharavuth added that the increase of temperature is one of the major impacts caused by climate change but that increase can in turn cause other impacts such erratic weather patterns and more intense storms and floods. Many UN agencies regard Cambodia as one of the countries that will bear the biggest impacts of the temperature rising.

“The increase in temperature will negatively affect public health, productivity, and the economic life as a whole. Temperature increase accounts for more than half of all of the impacts caused by climate change. So, our Cooling Action Plan is an important tool for Cambodia in its future development,” he said.