Climate change in Cambodia

Cambodia is highly vulnerable for the effects of climate change, extreme weather events will occur more often such as floods which already affects 90,000 residents annually and heatwaves with Cambodia already having one of the highest temperatures of the world. The temperature has increased since the 1960's by 0.18 °C per decade.[1] It had the 7th lowest CO2 emissions in Asia in 2019.[2]

Greenhouse gas emissions
Annual CO2 emissions in Cambodia.

In 2020 Cambodia reported 15.33 mt in CO2 emissions and is responsible for 0.04% in 2019 and cumulatively 0.01% of worldwide CO2 emissions. The per capita CO2 emissions in 2019 were 0.97t since 2013 a big increase in CO2 emissions was observed with a increase of 192.69% between 2013 and 2019.[3][4] 143.84 mt of CO2 emissions have been emitted between 1751 to 2019.[5]

Impacts on the natural environment

Temperature and weather changes
Warming stripes in Cambodia between 1901-2021.

The temperature has increased 0.18 °C per decade since 1980. Cambodia already has one of the highest temperatures in the world with 35 °C being recorded for 64 days a year nationally. These temperatures will rise in all RCP scenarios which could lead to permanent heat stress. The probability of droughts in 2080-2099 will rise from 4% annually to 5-9% under all scenarios.[1]

Daily temperature increase in 2080-2099 compared to 1986-2005 temperatures[1]
Climate change scenario 2080-2099
RCP 2.6 low emissions scenario 1.0 °C
RCP 4.5 intermediate scenario 1.8 °C
RCP 6.0 peak around 2080 then decline 2.2 °C
RCP 8.5 high emissions scenario 3.7 °C

The sub-daily precipitation will likely increase in intensity. Around 90.000 people are annually exposed to flooding in Cambodia, in RCP 8.5 scenario this will increase to 160.000 people annually. A study that was done by the World Bank expects that in 2050 19% of the population will be exposed to flooding.[1]

Mitigation and adaptation

The Cambodian government pledges to reduce emissions by 41.7% in 2030.[6]

Impacts on people

Unicef ranked Cambodia 46th out of 163 that they assessed on the impact of climate change on the youth. Cambodia was ranked as a high risk country in the report. The youth in Cambodia is already highly exposed to scarcity of water, riverine flooding and vector-borne disease which could worsen with the effects of climate change.[7]

References
  1. "Climate risk country profile Cambodia" (PDF). World Bank. 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-09-23.
  2. "Per capita CO₂ emissions". Our World in Data. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
  3. "Annual CO₂ emissions". Our World in Data. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
  4. Ritchie, Hannah; Roser, Max (2020-05-11). "CO₂ and Greenhouse Gas Emissions". Our World in Data.
  5. "Cumulative CO₂ emissions". Our World in Data. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
  6. Clark, Dan; Joiner, Sam; Bernard, Steven (2021-10-26). "COP26: How every country's emissions and climate pledges compare". Financial Times. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
  7. "Children in Cambodia at 'very high risk' of the impacts of the climate crisis - UNICEF". www.unicef.org. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
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