Phnom Penh, Cambodia – May 8 2024, The Asia Low Carbon Buildings Transition (ALCBT) project was officially launched today. The project aims to achieve a nationwide transition towards low carbon buildings, contributing significantly to lower energy consumption and greenhouse gas emission reduction in Cambodia’s building sector.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cambodia’s economy experienced a transformation with an annual growth rate of 7%. This led to a boom in the building and construction industry. In 2019, buildings encompassing the residential, commercial, and public sectors accounted for a significant 43% of the nation’s total energy consumption. The electricity demand for all sectors is forecasted to increase sixfold, reaching 66 TWh by 2040 without energy efficiency compared to baseline in 2020. In the National Energy Efficiency Policy 2022-2030 (NEEP), the government has set national targets of energy saving by 19% of total consumption, and 34% and 25% in residential and commercial buildings, respectively, by 2030.

H. E. Say Samal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Land Management, Urban Planning, and Construction, acknowledged, “While Cambodia is relatively new to green building concepts, we recognize the opportunity for eco-friendly and energy-saving in building and construction sector. This could boost growth in the sector and contribute to Cambodia’s commitment to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050 under the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Therefore, this project will be an instrumental in developing the Low Carbon Tool to support this vision.”

This five-year project, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) under the International Climate Initiative (IKI), aims to facilitate a nationwide transition to Low Carbon Buildings (LCBs) in Cambodia and four other Asian countries (India, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam). Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) is leading implementation of ALCBT project along with other consortium partners: ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE), Energy Efficiency Services Ltd. (EESL), and HEAT International. In Cambodia, the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning, and Construction is the government counterpart of the project.

“Cambodia’s booming building sector, driven by stable economic growth, contributes significantly to electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions,” stated H. E. Stefan Messerer, German Ambassador to Cambodia. He added, “This IKI-funded project is a crucial step in helping Cambodia unlock the full potential of green buildings.”

Under the project, GGGI and other local partners aim to institutionalize low-carbon performance metrics, enhance industry stakeholder capacity, link building performance to financing options, and share best practices to promote project replication and scaling.

Ms. Helena McLeod, Deputy Director-General of GGGI, said, “GGGI has been supporting Cambodia in its green growth journey. So far, we have supported the government for sustainable energy practices in the garment sector, electric mobility, waste management, and carbon financing. As for green building, the sector also offers a win-win situation for Cambodia. The ALCBT project will help reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, creating healthier and more comfortable living and working environments for Cambodians.”

The project aims to contribute to 1.68 million tCO2eq direct and indirect GHG emission reduction (combined for all project countries) while mobilizing €140 million worth of investment. In Cambodia, the project will support two policy recommendation outputs (building code enhancement and targets on carbon emissions reduction) to be adopted by the government and eight private and public sector entities to incorporate ALCBT project tools and training programs.

About the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI)

Based in Seoul, GGGI is a treaty-based international, inter-governmental organization- with 48 Members and over 24 countries and regional integration organization(s) in the process of accession – dedicated to supporting and promoting strong, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth in developing countries and emerging economies.  With operations in over 51   countries, GGGI serves the role of an enabler and facilitator of Members’ transition into a low-carbon green economy, providing policy advice and technical support in the development of green growth plans, policies and regulations, mobilization of green investments, implementation of green growth projects, and development of local capacities and knowledge sharing. Further information on GGGI’s events, projects and publications can be found on www.gggi.org.

About IKI

The International Climate Initiative (IKI) is an important part of the German government’s international climate finance commitment. Since 2022 the IKI is implemented by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) in close cooperation with the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) and the Federal Foreign Office (AA). Through the IKI, the ministries jointly support approaches in developing and emerging countries to implement and ambitiously develop the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) anchored in the Paris Agreement. Read more: https://www.international-climate-initiative.com/en/about-iki/

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Local GGGI communications contact

Mr. Keoveasna Hun, Communications & Knowledge Management Associate

+855 17 810 802 / Keoveasna.hun@gggi.org

GGGI Seoul

Ms. Mona Laczo, Communications & Knowledge Sharing Unit Head

mona.laczo@gggi.org

German Embassy Phnom Penh 

Mr. Jost Kadel, Head of Press Section of the German Embassy Phnom Penh

+855 23 216 193 / pr-1@phno.diplo.de