Globe must help Thailand in battle for climate survival: minister
The environment minister said the global community must back Thailand’s push for carbon neutrality by 2050 and net-zero emissions by 2065.
Speaking after the two-day Thailand Climate Action Conference (TCAC) in Bangkok, Varawut Silpa-archa said climate change was an existential crisis for Thai people – especially farmers suffering worsening floods. Measures to combat climate change and its effects on Thailand’s 67 million people were not a choice but a necessity for survival, he added.
Varawut said his ministry was coordinating preparations for climate change among public and private agencies in every province. However, he told foreign envoys that the international community’s pledges of financial and technological aid were essential if Thailand was to meet its UN climate pledges for carbon neutrality and net-zero emissions.
The TCAC was held on Friday and Saturday by the Environment and Resources Ministry under the theme “Thailand’s Future, World’s Future: Our Future, Our Responsibility, Our Opportunity”.
On Friday, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha told the conference that Thailand ranked ninth among countries most affected by climate change.
Varawut said that the ministry would send Thailand’s revised long-term emissions and nationally determined contributions to the United Nations before the UN COP27 climate summit in November.
