Abstract/Summary

In pursuit of sustaining growth in the economy, Cambodia also strives to enhance resilience, inclusiveness and sustainability. This paper discusses the key climate, gender and social issues that need to be addressed in order to achieve this goal. Specifically, the following issues need to be tackled: (i) high carbon footprints of the growth sectors; (ii) climate-induced natural disasters (especially floods and droughts); (iii) gender disparity in employment and wages; (iv) limited access to healthcare and education, particularly among informal workers; and (v) limited social protection and redistributive governance. To address these issues, priorities should be placed on: (i) raising more climate funds to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from energy, transport, industry and agriculture sectors; (ii) mitigating emissions from the energy and agriculture sectors in the interests of small enterprises and farmers; (iii) strengthening the adaptation in agriculture, water, forestry and health sectors by providing more funds to local authorities and communities, promoting nature-based adaptation and enhancing climate research; (iv) bolstering STEM education for girls and targeting green skills training for women; (v) incentivising business investments in rural areas to reduce outmigration; (vi) expanding public healthcare coverage, health insurance and social protection to include workers’ family members; (vii) enhancing the public financial reform to spend more on social investments in rural areas; and (viii) providing sufficient support and incentives to informal small enterprises to register.