$1.3 billion sought in climate aid

Manekseka Sangkum: This is shameless coming from a regime that has paid no heed to friendly warnings about the immediate and lasting effects of massive deforestation over the decades.

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$1.3 billion sought in climate aid

Wed, 16 March 2016

Thik Kaliyann and Igor Kossov

Cambodia needs $1.27 billion in aid to carry out its climate change reduction plans until 2018, the Ministry of Environment’s department of climate change said at a workshop in Siem Reap yesterday.

Sum Thy, director of the department, said Cambodia needed financial support, training and technological assistance to meet the targets of its intended national determined contribution (INDC).

The Kingdom’s action plans include helping farmers adapt to changing conditions, reducing emissions and reforestation.

“The success of INDC implementation is [dependent] upon technical and financial support from all national and international stakeholders,” said Tin Ponlok, the secretary-general of the National Council for Sustainable Development.

Nop Polin, who represented Cambodia’s civil society at COP21 in Paris, said yesterday that creating a safety net for poor people at the mercy of extreme weather was the aim of the costliest projects: irrigation systems and disaster preparedness.

Polin said that climate change could cost the Cambodian economy $1 billion in just two years, but allowed that the government was still not transparent and accountable with aid money.