Cambodia has been ranked as the country with the best natural environment in 2026, both in the world and in Southeast Asia, according to a recent ranking by a website called https://www.usnews.com, as the Ministry of Environment is running a campaign called “Clean Cambodia, Khmer Do It.”
According to the ranking, Cambodia ranks first among the 10 countries with the best natural environment in the world. The countries that follow include Seychelles, Slovenia, Croatia, Latvia, Albania, Sweden, Costa Rica, Slovakia, and Lithuania. In Southeast Asia, Cambodia also ranks first, followed by Myanmar, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Singapore.
Minister of Environment Eang Sophallet hailed the ranking, saying it reflects Cambodia’s effective management of natural resources and environmental protection.
According to experts from the Ministry of Environment, the countries ranked in the top 10 countries with the best natural environments in the world in 2026 are those that balance development with environmental protection, focusing on clean air, biodiversity, forest conservation, and sustainable resource management.
The Ministry of Environment said that Cambodia has 73 nature protection areas covering more than 7 million hectares, or about 41% of the country’s land area. The ministry said that these areas are important for protecting forests, biodiversity, and wildlife habitats.
The ranking comes as the Ministry of Environment is promoting the “Clean Cambodia, Khmer Can Do It” campaign, which was launched on May 15, 2024. The ministry claims that as of early 2026, about 7 million people have participated in direct environmental cleanup activities, including picking up trash and plastic waste from homes, schools, temples, and public spaces.
The ministry also said that Cambodia is promoting forest restoration, with a plan to plant and distribute at least 1 million saplings to citizens. The ministry said that this work aims to increase green cover, strengthen resilience to climate change, and support Cambodia’s goal of becoming a carbon-neutral country by 2050.
