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Cambodia is highly vulnerable to climate change, with rising temperatures increasing pressures on human health, livelihoods and ecosystems (World Bank and ADB, 2021). Projected climate change trends also indicate floods, droughts and saline intrusion, with extreme weather events increasing in intensity and frequency (NCSD/MoE, 2015).
Over 900,000 internal displacements linked to disasters have been recorded since data became available in 2008 (Figure 1). The highest number of displacements occurred in 2011, attributed to the heavy rainfall brought by Typhoons Nesat and Nalgae.
This led to the flooding of the Mekong River, impacting 18 out of 24 provinces and municipalities and affecting over 1.5 million people (ADB, 2012).
While 76 per cent of the population currently lives in rural areas, Cambodia is also experiencing a rapid rate of urbanization (World Bank and ADB, 2021).
As disasters, climate change and environmental degradation continue to unfold across Cambodia, their severity will be further heightened by the challenges posed by the compounding impacts of unsustainable urbanization, poverty and inequality, land degradation and erosion, to only name a few.