Phnom Penh - On 27 October 2020, the Ministry of Environment’s General Directorate of Environmental Knowledge and Information (GDEKI) organized a validation workshop to ultimately discuss the 2020 State of Environment (SoE) report. In collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the workshop gathered around 70 participants from sectoral ministries, development partners as well as civil society within the country. They all actively provided valuable comments and suggestions during this workshop, seeking to improve the quality of the report.

The event was presided over by H.E. Neth Pheaktra, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Environment (MoE), H.E. Dr Chuop Paris, Director General of GDEKI, MoE, as well as representatives from both FAO and UNDP. 

In his opening remarks, H.E. Pheaktra drew the attention of the participants to the importance of the national State of Environment and the need for collective inputs to finalize the report. He stressed that this SoE report would be a trusted source, assembling key facts and information making up seven chapters including air quality, climate change, biodiversity (forest and wildlife), inland water, land resource and soil quality, waste management, and food safety.

H.E. Neth Pheaktra added that this report would be used by relevant ministries, development partners, civil society, investors, and all relevant stakeholders to guides policies, responsive programmes, action plans development or other initiatives, aiming at contributing to the sustainable development of Cambodia. This report will be also a useful resource to improve understanding of Cambodian people about environmental issues. 

Mr Oum Kosal, Assistant FAO Representative in Cambodia (Programme), highlighted that the environment plays a critical role in the existence of life on our planet. The environment and ecosystems within which we all live provide natural services for humans and all other species that are essential to our health, quality of life, food systems and long-term existence on earth.

The report consists of seven chapters of which three were developed with FAO support: inland water, land resource and soil quality, and food safety (read more here).  

The food safety is an important cross-cutting issue, and it is everyone’s business throughout the food chain. FAO and GDEKI jointly developed this chapter, focusing on the interaction between food safety and the environment, in particular on the impact of environmental issues, including climate change on food safety.

“Food safety is integral to the Sustainable Development Goals. Healthy life and the well-being of the people cannot be secured without access to safe and nutritious food. A paradigm shift in practices is required to ensure a sufficient supply of safe and nutritious food, while minimizing environmental impacts, mitigating climate change, and promoting economic growth and social equity,” said Mr Oum Kosal.