A Prescription to Save Our Climate: Act Now, Act Together, and Act Differently
Cambodian Farmer
Sitting on a broken water drain, surrounded by a large field of rice paddy destroyed by Typhoon Ketsana last month, farmer Keo Oeun takes a deep breath when asked how the cyclone had affected him. “A whole hectare of my rice paddy was completely ruined,” he says, pointing to his damaged paddy field. “I am very worried about our shortage of rice to eat.”
Mr. Oeun has nearly two hectares of paddy field. Each year he harvets around 3 tons of rice paddy (srou) which can support the seven members of his family. But Ketsana wiped out half of his crop.
Sitting under a blue plastic “tarp” roof by her ruined house, Um Siphan, 39, a mother of four, said the typhoon had destroyed her new wooden house worth seven million riel [$1,700], all her family’s clothes, her children’s school materials, and kitchen tools such as plates and pots.
And it damaged her livelihood: two-thirds of her rice paddy was destroyed and one of her sons was wounded.
“It’s going to be very hard for my husband and me to find three million riel [$700] to rebuild our house; now we are living in our small kitchen [2 meters by 3 meters],” she said, and added “Our greatest concern is food, and money to support our children’s schooling.”
Mr Oeun and Mrs Siphan are among thousands victims in Kampong Thom province who were hit by Typhoon Ketsana in late September 2009.
It is believed that climate change can increase the intensity of extreme events such as Typhoon Ketsana. Just three weeks after the hurricane hit Cambodia (in Kampong Thom, Preah Vihear, Siem Reap, and adjacent provinces 43 Cambodians lost their lives) the first National Forum on Climate Change took place in Phnom Penh to discuss ways of adapting to climate change and mitigating its effects.
At the opening, the Prime Minister, Samdech Hun Sen, urged all countries to take action now to respond to climate change.
“Climate change is a great challenge facing the world; it has strong potential to change the development of human civilization if we do not take serious and timely measures to cope with it,” he said.
“This issue does not stop at particular boundaries of one nation, because the world has only one atmosphere.
Both rich and poor countries are affected by climate change.” At a two-day workshop following the National Forum, panelists discussed the impact of climate change on poverty and people, particularly women and children, and on natural resources.
The panelists also discussed how to mitigate climate change by responses such as renewable energy, a low-carbon society, carbon financing, new resources, new instruments, and new technology. They also discussed adaptation to climate change and how to turn climate change awareness into action.
At a press conference, Senior Minister Mok Mareth, Minister of Environment, said the Ministry of Environment had asked the Ministry of Economy and Finance to reduce import tax for any goods that could reduce carbon emission, and promote renewable energy. Duty has since been reduced from 35 percent to 7 percent for solar panels, and abolished for wind power and mini-hydro machinery. He also said the two-day discussion provided a great support to Cambodia to develop capacity, mobilize financial resources, and help the country prepare for negotiations at the Climate Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009.
Cambodia is a leader among developing countries in preparing an active adaptation program – the National Adaptation Program of Action (NAPA) – which identifies the urgent priorities. The Government also established the National Committee for Climate Change. These steps place Cambodia in a strong position to take full advantage of its agreement to be one of nine countries to be part of a new Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR).
Under PPCR Cambodia will receive between $30 million to $60 million to enhance its institutional capacity and to support full-scale, on-the-ground investment programs that will enhance national development priories and make them more resilient to climate change.
At the closing of the Forum, World Bank Country Manager Qimiao Fan said Climate Change is an urgent issue for everyone and every country. But he said the urgency is all the greater for people in developing countries, particularly in the less developed countries like Cambodia: how to cope with a changing climate that will impact on the availability of food, water, energy, shelter, maintenance of human health, and sustainability of livelihoods.
“Climate change can be kept within two degrees centigrade. But for this to happen, all countries must act now, act together, and act differently,” he said.
(Source: The World Bank Newsletter, October-November 2009)