Islanders in rural Cambodia adapting to climate change

Kaoh Samraong is an island in the Mekong River in Cambodia, a home to 6,600 people, where extreme climate conditions have made everyday life very challenging.

The ‘Rural Roads Improvement Project’ funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB), Nordic Development Fund (NDF) and other partners was set off to find ways to support adaptation to climate change. One of the main initiatives was to build a solid road network across the island. The project has rehabilitated about 1031 km of rural roads in nine provinces in the country to paved condition. The provinces have a large population of people living in these rural areas in poverty. 

“Good reforms have taken place. Especially the road. Before we used cows to transport goods to the market, which was slow and difficult. This new road has made it easier and improved our livelihood. Now, we have a small tractor to transport goods to the market. It is easy”, says Chhum Parch, a farmer who lives on the island.

Meet the people in Kaoh Samraong and watch our videos:

Systematic Observation Financing Facility sets off to fill data gaps

A new finance mechanism to strengthen weather and climate observations, improve early warnings to save lives, protect livelihoods and underpin climate adaptation for long-term resilience has opened its doors for business.

SOFF seeks to address the long-standing problem of missing weather and climate observations from Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States. In support of the Paris Agreement, it will strengthen the international response to climate change by filling the data gaps that limit our understanding of the climate. These gaps affect our capacity to predict and adapt to extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and heatwaves.

“The Nordic Development Fund (NDF) is pleased to be among the initial funders of SOFF. The implementation of this new financing mechanism will ensure that climate action is underpinned by the best available science and data,” says Karin Isaksson, Managing Director at Nordic Development Fund.