Wednesday 19 January 2022

Cambodia commits to becoming carbon-neutral by 2050

Cambodia has announced its commitment to become carbon-neutral by 2050.

It claims to be the first country in Southeast Asia to publish a plan to achieve its goal, which was submitted to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in December 2021.

The latest commitment follows the government's pledge to reduce Cambodia's greenhouse gas emissions by more than 40% by 2030.

The country has also made a commitment to reduce deforestation by 50% by 2030 and reach net zero emissions in the forestry sector by 2040.

According to the Ministry of Environment, Cambodia has a 100MW foothold in solar energy development and the country is steering away from coal-fired generation and hydropower development on the Mekong River has been ruled out.

Say Samal, Environment Minister for Cambodia said: “Implementation of the carbon neutrality strategy in Cambodia is expected to increase our nation's GDP by nearly 3% and to create some 449,000 jobs by 2050.

“Forestry sector reforms, decarbonisation of transport systems and the promotion of low carbon agricultural and goods production processes will lead the way to a greener economy and more sustainable prosperity for all.”