Climate Change Affects on Livelihoods for Rural People
The Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Economy and Finance and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) collaborated to launch the 2011 Cambodia Human Development Report (CHDR) on August 30th which identifies climate change as a threat to human development gains and a source of increasing vulnerability for the poor. “Building Resiliency-the Future of Rural Livelihood in the Face of Climate Change,” which is the first-ever Cambodia human development report on climate change, brought about enormous benefits to Cambodia as it detailed information about the current situation of climate change and its impact on Cambodia, especially the country’s rural population who are the most vulnerable in facing climate change and have to strive to improve their livelihood to deal with those problems… H.E. Mok Maret, Minister of Environment, said that in responding to climate change, there is a need to reform some sectors which increase people’s capacity to solve problems by themselves such as reform throughout decentralization, reform of information systems, climate prediction, reform rural infrastructure, select best crops, and increase the capacity of research knowledge. He added that government agencies, non-governmental organizations and the private sector with the support of development partners, can ensure the success of an effective climate change response in Cambodia… The report from the ceremony said that although climate change is often considered as an environmental issue, its effects will take a toll on human development gains. Shorter and more intense rainy seasons combined with longer and drier seasons are expected to significantly alter the country’s agricultural landscape. It has been predicted that rises in temperature could have devastating effects on the rice crops on which many rural livelihoods rely.
