This blog is part of a series of country spotlights as the world gears up for the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28). USAID has a portfolio of climate change programs, partnerships, and expertise in more than 45 countries around the world. Here, Climatelinks is putting a spotlight on Cambodia.
Cambodia is endowed with a rich natural resource base, including diverse and productive inland fisheries. This resource base, essential for livelihoods and food security, is threatened by changing climatic conditions. The country is particularly vulnerable to climate change because of its low adaptive capacity, still-prevalent poverty, and geographic location. Increased temperatures, drought, and changes in seasonal rainfall patterns, in combination with extensive damming for hydropower throughout the Mekong Basin, threaten to impact food security and human health through reduced freshwater availability, which may in turn reduce agricultural and fisheries production.
USAID supports the Government of Cambodia’s development and climate priorities through a series of programs and partnerships across the climate adaptation and natural climate solutions sectors.
Climatelinks’ Cambodia Resources
Climatelinks houses more than 100 reports, blog posts, and photos related to Cambodia, including a Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Fact Sheet and Climate Risk Profile.
Cambodia’s Youth Take Action for a Green Future
USAID, through the Cambodia Green Future Activity, is catalyzing a dynamic youth movement in the country around combating climate change and protecting natural resources.
Anchored in Sustainability: Improving Resilience for Cambodian Fishery Communities
The Increasing Fisheries Sustainability for Resilience activity is one of 20 activities empowering Cambodians with the knowledge needed to increase the sustainability of their fishing practices.
Fintech, Smallholders, and Sustainable Agriculture in Southeast Asia: An Economist Intelligence Unit Research Programme Commissioned by USAID Green Invest Asia
Fintech has made financial services more accessible to groups that traditionally fell outside of formal finance in Cambodia and other countries in Southeast Asia. They can provide alternative and automated models to facilitate smallholder-focused lending and channel private sector investments more effectively to accelerate the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices in the region.
Key Climate Indicators
Resources listed below summarize existing information from Climatelinks’ Cambodia Country Page on climate change impacts, greenhouse gas emissions, and USAID climate and development programs in Cambodia.
Vulnerability is the measure of a country's exposure, sensitivity, and capacity to adapt to the negative effects of climate change. A lower vulnerability score means higher vulnerability. While findings from the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN) have rated Cambodia’s vulnerability as medium overall, areas of its food and health sectors are much more vulnerable and therefore require urgent action. In particular, the projected change of cereal yields and agriculture capacity scored worst within the food sector, and medical staff scored worst (meaning extremely vulnerable) within the health sector.
Cambodia’s GHG emissions growth from 2015-2019 was 3.88 percent, according to the World Resources Institute’s CAIT Climate Data Explorer. This represents the annual growth in GHG emissions across all sectors, including land use.
Ariel Schindler
Ariel Schindler is a Communications and Knowledge Management Specialist on USAID’s Advancing Capacity for the Environment (ACE) contract, supporting Climate in her main role as Climatelinks Community Manager. Ariel has a Master’s in Strategic Communications, with a focus on social impact and advocacy, from American University, and a BA in Environmental Science and Policy from Eckerd College.
