Cambodian ministries should take into account possible climate-related mishaps when planning capital projects, Asian Development Bank representatives told ministry officials at a workshop yesterday.

The officials were told that when planning new projects like roads or irrigation, the government should research how droughts and floods would affect them to avoid costly surprises.

The workshop was held by the department of climate change with the ADB and several consulting firms to educate officials from the ministries of agriculture, environment, water resources, rural development and public works .

“This kind of evaluation needs to be mainstream,” said Peter John Meynell, with the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Ou Chanthearith, from the climate change department, agreed more review of climate change factors during national development planning is needed.

According to the ADB, climate change mitigation investments in the country from all sources currently total $554 million.