VZCZCXRO4443
RR RUEHAST RUEHCHI RUEHDH RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHNH RUEHPB
RUEHPOD RUEHSL RUEHTM RUEHTRO
DE RUEHPF #0813 3030827
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 300827Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1323
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS PHNOM PENH 000813 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, OES/PCI/SMIRZA 
BANGKOK FOR REO/HHOWARD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV EAGR ENRG EAID EIND CB
SUBJECT: RGC GEARS UP FOR COPENHAGEN WITH NATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE 
FORUM 
 
REF: PHNOM PENH 283 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
¶1. (U) Over the course of a two-day conference, technical and policy 
experts educated Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) officials on the 
threat of climate change and began formulating the country's 
official position for the December UN Framework Convention on 
Climate Change's (UNFCC) 15th Conference of the Parties (COP-15) in 
Copenhagen.  The gathering, held October 19-21 in Phnom Penh, was 
Cambodia's first national, inter-ministerial forum on climate change 
and pulled together a range of RGC officials, donors, scientists, 
and civil society representatives.  Cambodia's National Climate 
Change Committee hosted the event, with support from some bilateral 
donors and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). 
 
¶2. (U) Prime Minister Hun Sen opened the forum, highlighting the 
vulnerability of Cambodia's agriculture and health sectors.  (NOTE: 
Reftel describes the risks Cambodia faces from climate change.  END 
NOTE.)  Minister of Environment Mok Mareth prioritized climate 
change institutional development, resource mobilization and 
management, and preparations for COP-15.  Both speakers called on 
developed countries to provide more technical and financial 
assistance to developing countries for climate change mitigation and 
adaptation. 
 
¶3. (U) Sessions held throughout the forum focused on a wide range of 
topics, from forestry and carbon financing to renewable energy 
development, fisheries sector adaptation, and the ties between 
climate change, gender, and poverty. Some sessions focused on 
low-cost technologies currently used in Cambodia that could be 
applied on a wider scale to promote emissions reductions in the 
short term.  For example, local company Kamworks displayed its solar 
lanterns, which at approximately $20 each offer an alternative to 
kerosene and oil lamps.  French NGO Geres presented its small-scale 
carbon reduction solutions, such as efficient stoves and 
sustainable, low-carbon alternatives to traditional wood charcoal, 
the use of which contributes to deforestation around the country. 
 
 
¶4. (U) Representatives of the UNDP and Oxfam America, who helped 
fund and organize the event, played up the success of the forum in 
the press, saying that it had positioned the RGC to be a leader in 
guiding discussions in Copenhagen.  A fisheries scientist who 
attended told Poloff that the gathering did not produce any new or 
surprising information, but that it was a good opportunity to engage 
the greater RGC on the issue of climate change, rather than just the 
Ministry of Environment. 
 
¶5. (SBU) COMMENT.  The forum was successful in that it attracted 
high-level attention to the climate change issue and focused the RGC 
on the upcoming Copenhagen negotiations.  However, it is the first 
time since the 2008 national elections that the National Climate 
Change Committee has met.  It will likely take time to spread the 
climate change message to the rest of the RGC, not to mention the 
Cambodian public.  It is unlikely that the Cambodian delegation to 
COP-15 will have the capacity to be a "leader" in the discussions as 
some of the forum organizers have claimed, but the government may 
now be more comfortable developing a Cambodian position on the 
issue, rather than instructing its delegates to align automatically 
with the G-77, as it has done in past negotiations.  END COMMENT. 
 
 
RODLEY