Cambodia and the UK are planning to expand human resource training cooperation to address climate change in the near future.

Plans to expand cooperation were discussed at a May 1 meeting between Ministry of Environment secretary of state Eang Sophalleth and Jim Skea, UK candidate for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The Ministry of Environment said Sophalleth informed Skea that Cambodia had set clear goals for carbon neutrality by 2050 and launched a long-term strategy for carbon neutrality.

“He also reported on updates of the Kingdom’s international contributions to the implementation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. These are testament to our strong commitment and political will to tackle climate change,” it said.

“We initiated this human resource training cooperation in order to provide young civil servants with employment and internship opportunities at the IPCC,” it added.

The ministry believes that Cambodian youths would be future leaders, noting that this would be in line with Cambodia’s commitment to make an active contribution to tackling the challenges posed by climate change.

Sophalleth requested that the IPCC share the findings of its research with Cambodia.

Skea complimented Cambodia for its efforts to resolve the problem of climate change and improve its own environmental management.

He voiced support for the strengthening and expansion of cooperation between the IPCC and the Cambodian government, especially in terms of human resource training initiatives.

The environment ministry launched a long-term strategy for carbon neutrality, with Minister of Environment Say Samal noting that Cambodia is the second least developed country in the world and the second in ASEAN to lay out the strategy, along with its goal of achieving zero emissions by 2050.