Posted on February, 01 2025
Sen Monorom, Mondulkiri - Joining forces with the Ministry of Environment, WWF-Cambodia hosted two outreach events to promote a plastic-free Cambodia on 31 January and 1 February 2025. The half-day ceremonies engaged over 600 government officials, students and community members, urging individual and collective action for the Khmer people to achieve “a clean Cambodia.”
Senior government officials spoke at the ceremonies, including H.E. Choup Paris, the Ministry of Environment’s Secretary of State, H.E. Meas Sophal, the Ministry of Environment’s Undersecretary of State, and H.E Thong Savon, Provincial Governor of Mondulkiri Province, and H.E. Ngin Sovimean, Deputy Governor of Mondulkiri Province.
“A clean Cambodia is impossible without the participation of members of the young generation like you,” H.E. Choup Paris told students. “You have the power to change our society for a better environment at your school, home and the public.”
H.E. Thong Savon also emphasized the importance of taking action together. “Plastic is not just one individual or organization’s responsibility, but our collective responsibility to make our city cleaner, greener and attractive to tourists,” he said.
Dr Dipankar Chyau Patnaik, WWF-Cambodia’s Conservation Programme Director, described how plastic pollution, logging and climate change are putting Cambodia’s wildlife and habitats at growing risk. “But there is hope,” he said, “and that hope begins with each of us.”
The speakers also emphasized this campaign’s alignment with the government’s Environmental Chakra Strategy (2023-2028). Afterwards, community members did their part to create a “clean,” “green” and “sustainable” Cambodia by picking up litter in the surrounding area. Participants also pledged together, “Today I will not use plastic bags,” signaling their commitment to reducing waste in their daily lives.
The initiative was part of WWF-Cambodia’s Sustainable Consumption and Production project, which seeks to transform Cambodia’s food system for the better by engaging consumers, producers and other key market actors in environmentally friendly practices. WWF-Cambodia and the Ministry of Environment will continue teaching communities about Sustainable Consumption and Production through more outreach events in the coming months. The SCP project has contributed its activities and results based on the SCP Cambodia Roadmap, as initiated by Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment.