One of the key milestones on every climate professional’s agenda in 2025 is the third generation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – or national pledges under the Paris Agreement and the urgent collective commitment to combat climate change. In Cambodia, the NDC 3.0 development was led by the Ministry of Environment with UNDP acting as the "conductor" of the joint technical support from across the UN system and development partners. Over the course of six months, the process convened more than 1000+ stakeholders from government, civil society and youth groups to co-design an ambitious, implementable, inclusive and costed plan. 

The context

While Cambodia contributes less than 1% to the global carbon share, it is particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. Rising temperatures and the heightened frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as floods and droughts, are estimated to result in a 9.8% GDP loss by 2050 due to the associated productivity and crop yield losses, as well as damages to infrastructure and assets if no adaptation measures are taken.

To address and avert these challenges, Cambodia developed its Long-Term Strategy for Carbon Neutrality in 2021 as the first ASEAN country and the second Least Developed Country (LDC) to do so, becoming a climate governance champion.  In addition, it set out the ambition to reduce domestic GHG emissions by 27% and 42% in its first and second NDC which were submitted to UNFCCC in 2015 and 2020 respectively. And this year, on the tenth anniversary of the Paris Agreement, it committed to a 55% or 73.7 MtCO2eq reduction by 2035 as compared to Business as Usual (BAU[1], an enhanced adaptation effort and the creation of enabling conditions across the 163 measures proposed in this ambitious plan.

The prelude

Responding to the Secretary General’s call for a joint offer, UN in Cambodia and UNDP mobilized the support of twelve UN agencies and eight development partners to assist line ministries of the Royal Government of Cambodia in defining an ambitious, implementable and inclusive NDC 3.0.

The development process officially kicked off in January 2025 with an Inception Workshop outlining the proposed approach and target timelines to members of the Climate Change Technical Working Group (CCTWG) representing a wealth of twenty two government ministries and institutions. It was preceded by a comprehensive preparatory work which was undertaken using  UNDP's Climate Promise infrastructure in late 2024, consisting of a stocktake report, which provided vital information on the status of implementation of the NDC 2.0, and a set of recommendations to inform the design of the next iteration, including recommendations for enhanced gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) and a roadmap for youth engagement.

A sectoral approach was chosen to facilitate collaboration among different stakeholders across the mitigation, adaptation and enabling categories. A key challenge was getting everyone on the same page in terms of the chosen baseline year, data harmonisation and the overall coherence of approach. From an initial guidance note with templates for sectoral leads to the monthly coordination meetings and countless individual follow-ups and clarifications, every effort was made to facilitate the final compilation work ahead of time. After 17 sectoral meetings, one national and three sub-national consultations, the "concerto" successfully reached its crescendo with a Validation Workshop in July and subsequent submission to UNFCCC.

The development took approximately six months - a record time compared to the previous iteration which took nine, but only a little more that what will take for an average orchestra to prep for an average concerto. 

The impact

Cambodia’s NDC 3.0 marks the first time that social services and protection were included as a means to strengthen the resilience of those most vulnerable to climate change by enhancing adaptive capacities and promoting a just transition. Additionally, the emphasis on Health & WASH, Disaster & climate risk management and Air quality sectors has increased, treating them as distinct categories, underscoring their critical importance in climate adaptation. And to recognize the integral role of food systems in building resilience against climate impacts, they were included as a new sector. 

Since very few people participating in the NDC 3.0 development were engaged in the previous iteration, additional efforts were made on capacity building and awareness-raising, particularly among the CCTWG members on the overall NDC process as well as on the importance of social inclusion, SMART target setting and due reporting. Another improvement was the engagement of additional ministries and relevant government entities to reflect new sectors and enhance the whole government approach needed for effective climate action

Throughout the process, special attention was paid to the inclusivity pillar. Gender equality already constituted an important component of Cambodia’s Updated NDC from 2020, however, social inclusion was particularly strengthened this time around with the direct engagement and input of 60+ indigenous people and people with disabilities in the development process. In addition, more than 250 young people participated in a dedicated consultation and the development of a National Youth Statement on NDC 3.0. This was complemented by a heightened effort from the coordinating team to track participation through a standardized attendance sheet with additional categories common to all NDC meetings, which enabled the reporting of the above-mentioned figures. Marginalized groups were explicitly recognized as key stakeholders in a number of measures across sectors, and in some cases even assigned specific measures and targets.

The way forward

Cambodia's NDC 3.0 came with a USD 32.2 billion price tag for the period 2026–2035, outlining an estimated cost of 22.7 billion USD for mitigation, 9.4 billion for adaptation and 172 million for enabling activities. Nearly two-thirds (USD 20.37 billion) of this envelope will go to the energy sector, with USD 12.78 billion specifically aimed at increasing renewable energy to 80% of the electricity mix by 2035 and seizing the “Moment of Opportunity” as described in the UN Secretary General’s Special Address from 22 July.

The conditionality of the commitments under Cambodia’s NDC 3.0 means that without strong international support, the country – set to graduate from LDC status in the coming years - can only achieve a 16% emission reduction in 2035 or 21.7 MtCO2e from 133.7 MtCO2e under the Business as Usual (BAU) scenario. The implementation of the unconditional commitment (around USD 9.5 billion) that Cambodia can achieve through its own national budget and support that is already confirmed from development partners will also depend on having the enabling policies, institutions, and systems in place to manage and deliver these efforts effectively.

This month marks the official launch of Cambodia’s NDC 3.0, signaling a move from formulation towards implementation. The urgency of coordinated climate action is clear, but as the COP30 President highlighted in his latest letter to the international community, it is not merely a scientific or technical challenge - it is a profoundly human one. 

UNDP will be there to support Cambodia on this journey, starting with the enhanced transparency effort through the NDC tracking system update, developing a financing strategy for the NDC and empowering communities and young people as stewards of the country’s climate future along the way – until the next big concerto.

UNDP’s work on climate action is possible thanks to generous support to our head quarter core from Belgium, Denmark, the European Union, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom. On the other hand, while development partners in country have traditionally preferred bilateral support to government, UNDP can remain a key interlocutor of Government counting on the strong support from the Ministry of Environment for which we facilitate access to climate finance available with various vertical funds, including the Adaptation Fund, Green Climate Fund, and Global Environment Facility.