Cambodia’s extractive industries have traditionally operated on a small scale, mostly mining construction materials, gold or gemstones. While commercial production of minerals or oil has yet to begin on a large scale – these products made up just 0.1% of the country’s exports in 20161 – ...

Goal 16’s full title is “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.” It has a monitoring framework of 12 targets (2 around means of implementation) and 23 indicators.  Transition ...

In 2003, a national sector review for hydropower was prepared by the Ministry for Industry, Mines and Energy (now Ministry of Mines and Energy) and the Cambodian National Mekong Committee (CNMC). This report identified 60 possible sites for hydropower development in Cambodia and estimated the ...

SDG 17 – “Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development” – is about bringing governments, civil society, the private sector and other actors together to help achieve the 2030 Agenda. There are 19 global targets and 25 indicators. The targets ...

Chi Phat primary school, Koh Kong Province. Photo by ODC team, taken on 28 November 2017. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.Access to free, good quality education in Cambodia is a right set out in the country’s Constitution: Article 65: “The State shall protect and promote citizens’ ...

The 2030 Agenda was developed to reflect that “the international community has made significant strides towards lifting people out of poverty (). However, inequality still persists and large disparities remain in access to health and education services and other assets”. 173Although the number of people ...

Cambodian fish farmer checking on fish quality. Photo by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), taken on 16 October 2012. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.Cambodia’s inland capture fisheries are among the largest in the world. The fishing industry encompasses subsistence, commercial and recreational fishing, as ...

In Cambodia, petroleum is traditionally the main source of energy for transportation. The petroleum fuels used for transportation include gasoline, diesel, heavy fuel and fuel oil. ...

All land that is not state public property or is not privately owned is de facto state private land. State private land may be sold, exchanged, leased, granted as concessions, or otherwise alienated. ...

Artisanal mining is small-scale mining that typically involves individuals, family groups or small communities, often working with limited technology. The mining may be seasonal, fitted around other work such as farming. There is a large overlap between this type of activity and gemstone mining. Artisanal ...

SDG 8 – “Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all” – has 10 general targets and 2 means of implementation targets.224 There are 17 indicators. Some of these targets are more relevant for Cambodia than others. For ...

SDG 7 focuses on affordable, reliable and sustainable access to modern energy services. This includes ensuring universal access to energy services (SDG 7.1), increasing the proportion of renewable energy sources used to supply these services (SDG 7.2) and doubling the rate of energy efficiency improvements ...

Bird eye view of a local market in Phnom Penh. Photo by Roberto Trombetta, taken on 8 May 2015. Photo licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 GenericThe development and administration of Cambodia’s urban areas has struggled to keep pace with urban population growth. For example, ...

Deforestation has been one of the most significant changes the Cambodian landscape has undergone in recent decades. Key drivers of this process have been land concessions and subsequent land conversion, and large-scale illegal logging. ...

There is no large-scale industrial mining of gems in Cambodia, and few full-time miners. Most people involved in looking for gemstones fit it around other work – typically farm work – and mostly do it without licenses. As with artisanal mining, miners are often very ...

Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2) seeks to “end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”, ensuring universal access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food for everyone at all times. Likewise, it provides a much more comprehensive approach to the issue ...

In September 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This contained 17 items that have become known as the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), intended to drive action in critically important areas to the year 2030. These goals have ...

Products from Vietnam arrive at the Phnom Penh Autonomous Port in Kandal province. Photo by World Bank Photo Collection, taken on 23 February 2013.  Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0The Comprehensive Cambodian Peace Agreement, commonly referred to as the Paris Agreement, is seen as the beginning ...

Sustainable Development Goal 1 (SDG 1) seeks to “end poverty in all its forms everywhere”, ensuring extreme poverty is eradicated and overall poverty is reduced by 50%.This goal provides a much more comprehensive approach than the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the issue of poverty. ...

One of the key goals of the 2030 Agenda is to “decouple economic growth from resource use and environmental degradation”.479 Sustainable consumption and production involves promotion of resource and energy efficiency as well as reduction of economic, social and environmental costs. These are intended to ...