Water stress poses credit risks for coal, mining and power sectors: Moody’s

In Asia, said Moody’s countries with the highest exposure to water management risks also tend to be large agricultural producers, with those banking systems facing sizable loan exposures. This is the case in India, China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Bangladesh where in many cases credit to agriculture and fisheries is reflective of the sectors’ importance to employment.

Droughts and political risk challenge hydro’s place in energy mixture

Cambodia will probably expand hydropower carefully, according to The Stimson Center’s Courtney Weatherby. “Policymakers would benefit from being strategic in selecting hydropower projects. This could be done through seeking to strategically identify and support projects which are sited above existing projects to avoid further fragmentation of the Mekong River system and avoiding dams on the mainstream of the Mekong, which would negatively impact the flow of water, fish and sediments to the Tonle Sap lake and further threaten fisheries productivity and domestic food production,” Weatherby said.

Social and behaviour change communication campaign on reduction of demand luxury wood furniture launched

“We hope that this campaign will provide useful information and better options for Cambodian citizens, especially youth, to consider as they make choices that impact their environment. Taking the right actions today can lead to positive impacts in the future for Cambodia’s forests and wildlife. Keep the trees where they belong.”

Prey Lang Extended landscape has significant forest cover, but declining health

The report said that over the 12-year period, carbon storage per hectare of forest (not carbon in the soil) in the PLEL has been reduced from 120 Mg C/ha to 95 Mg C/ha. hreats such as encroachment and exploitation of natural resources in the PLEL continue at an alarming rate, chipping away at the 19 protected areas in the PLEL (53% of the PLEL) and stressing water and soil resources. 

Should tree plantations count toward reforestation goals? It’s complicated

Government agencies touted the Prey Lang reforestation project in central Cambodia as the country’s first big venture into climate-focused restoration. Cambodia’s Forestry Administration granted South Korean contractor Think Biotech a 34,000-hectare (84,000-acre) reforestation concession for the ostensible purpose of planting trees and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. But what’s happened on the ground doesn’t look much like a win against climate change.