Cambodia Celebrates Return of ‘Priceless’ Stolen Artifacts

This handout photo taken and released by Cambodia's Government Cabinet on March 17, 2023 shows Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (L) and Cambodia's Ministry of Culture and Fine Art Phoeurng Sackona (2L) looking at jewelry during a ceremony held to unveil a collection of stolen Angkorian artifacts at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh. (Kok KY / Cambodia's Government Cabinet / AFP)
This handout photo taken and released by Cambodia's Government Cabinet on March 17, 2023 shows Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (L) and Cambodia's Ministry of Culture and Fine Art Phoeurng Sackona (2L) looking at jewelry during a ceremony held to unveil a collection of stolen Angkorian artifacts at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh. (Kok KY / Cambodia's Government Cabinet / AFP)
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Cambodia Celebrates Return of ‘Priceless’ Stolen Artifacts

This handout photo taken and released by Cambodia's Government Cabinet on March 17, 2023 shows Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (L) and Cambodia's Ministry of Culture and Fine Art Phoeurng Sackona (2L) looking at jewelry during a ceremony held to unveil a collection of stolen Angkorian artifacts at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh. (Kok KY / Cambodia's Government Cabinet / AFP)
This handout photo taken and released by Cambodia's Government Cabinet on March 17, 2023 shows Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (L) and Cambodia's Ministry of Culture and Fine Art Phoeurng Sackona (2L) looking at jewelry during a ceremony held to unveil a collection of stolen Angkorian artifacts at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh. (Kok KY / Cambodia's Government Cabinet / AFP)

Centuries-old cultural artifacts that had been illegally smuggled out from Cambodia were welcomed home Friday at a celebration led by Prime Minister Hun Sen, who offered thanks for their return and appealed for further efforts to retrieve such stolen treasures.

Many, if not all, of the items displayed at the government’s offices Friday had been looted from Cambodia during periods of war and instability, including in the 1970s when the country was under the brutal rule of the communist Khmer Rouge. Through unscrupulous art dealers, they made their way into the hands of private collectors and museums around the world.

A statement from the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts described the returned artifacts as embodying the “priceless cultural heritage and the souls of generations of Khmer ancestors.”

The statement credited the items’ return to “tremendous cooperation and support” from public and private institutions, national and international experts, and close relations with other countries through bilateral, multi-lateral and international institutions, including UNESCO, the UN Cultural Agency.

It also singled out cooperation between the Cambodian and US governments. Many of the items returned so far have come from the United States.

The returned items included important Hindu and Buddhist statues, as well as ancient jewelry from the once-mighty empire of Angkor.

In February, a spectacular collection of jewelry was returned to Cambodia from the estate of antiquities collector and dealer Douglas Latchford, who was accused of buying and selling looted artifacts. The 77 pieces of jewelry included crowns, necklaces, bracelets, belts, earrings and amulets. US prosecutors in 2019 indicted him on charges related to alleged trafficking in stolen and looted Cambodian antiquities. Latchford, who died in 2020, had denied any involvement in smuggling.

In remarks to an invited audience that included US Ambassador W. Patrick Murphy, Hun Sen said that some Cambodian sculptures are still missing and held in foreign countries, and he appealed for their return in the spirit of goodwill. He said his government is determined to use all means at its disposal to secure those stolen artifacts, including negotiations and legal action.

“The United States joins Cambodians in celebrating the return of looted artifacts back to their rightful home in the Kingdom,” said a statement from the US Embassy.

“(asterisk)For 20 years the United States has worked to protect, preserve, and honor Cambodia’s rich cultural heritage with local partners, American academic institutions, and nonprofit organizations," it said. “Through a long-standing US-Cambodia cultural property agreement, the United States has facilitated the return of over 100 priceless antiquities.”



‘More and Faster’: UN Calls to Shrink Buildings’ Carbon Footprint

 Snow capped mountains are seen behind the downtown Los Angeles skyline, California, US, March 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Snow capped mountains are seen behind the downtown Los Angeles skyline, California, US, March 7, 2025. (Reuters)
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‘More and Faster’: UN Calls to Shrink Buildings’ Carbon Footprint

 Snow capped mountains are seen behind the downtown Los Angeles skyline, California, US, March 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Snow capped mountains are seen behind the downtown Los Angeles skyline, California, US, March 7, 2025. (Reuters)

Countries must move rapidly to slash CO2 emissions from homes, offices, shops and other buildings -- a sector that accounts for a third of global greenhouse gas pollution, the United Nations said Monday.

Carbon dioxide emissions from the building sector rose around five percent in the last decade when they should have fallen 28 percent, according to a new report by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

It said emissions had plateaued since 2023 as climate policies began to have an impact, particularly green building standards, the use of renewable energy and electrified heating and cooling.

But the building sector still consumes 32 percent of the world's energy and contributes 34 percent of CO2 emissions, the report found.

"The buildings where we work, shop and live account for a third of global emissions and a third of global waste," said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP.

"The good news is that government actions are working. But we must do more and do it faster."

She called on nations to include targets to "rapidly cut emissions from buildings and construction" in their climate plans.

The report said that while most of the countries that signed up to the 2015 Paris climate deal -- nearly 200 have signed -- mention the sector, so far only 19 countries have sufficiently detailed goals in their national carbon cutting plans.

The report said that as of 2023, important metrics like energy-related emissions and the adoption of renewable energy "remain well below required progress rates".

That means that countries, businesses and homeowners now need to dramatically pick up the pace to meet the 2030 emissions reduction targets.

- 'Critical challenge' -

Direct and indirect CO2 emissions will now need to fall more than 10 percent per year, more than double the originally envisaged pace.

The rollout of renewables is a similar story.

The share of renewables like solar and wind in final energy consumption rose by only 4.5 percentage points since 2015, well behind the goal of nearly 18 percentage points.

That now needs to accelerate by a factor of seven to meet this decade's goal of tripling renewable energy use worldwide, UNEP said.

The report urged countries to accelerate the roll-out of renewable technologies and increase the share of renewables in the final energy mix to 46 percent by 2030 -- a rise of around 18 percent.

It also called on policymakers to increase energy efficiency retrofits to include better design, insulation and the use of renewables and heat pumps.

More work also needs to be done to improve the sustainability of materials like steel and cement, whose manufacture accounts for nearly a fifth of all emissions from the building sector.

But the report did say that circular construction practices were increasing in some areas, with recycled materials accounting for 18 percent of construction inputs in Europe.

The authors urged all major greenhouse gas emitters to take action by introducing zero-carbon building energy codes by 2028, and called on other countries to create and tighten their regulations within the next 10 years.

The report highlighted positive national policies from China, France, Germany, Mexico and South Africa among others.

But it said financing remained a "critical challenge".

In 2023, it found that global investment in energy efficiency in buildings fell seven percent from a year earlier to $270 billion, driven by higher borrowing costs and the winding back of government support programs, notably in Europe.

Those investments now need to double -- to $522 billion -- by 2030, it said.