Industry Ministry eyes cutting emissions by 7.2 million tonnes per year
The Industry Ministry on Friday announced a three-point plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the industrial sector by 7.2 million tonnes per year, in line with the government’s policy for Thai industries to embrace sustainability.
Speaking at the “Moving Green Forward” event hosted by the Department of Industrial Promotion in Bangkok on Friday, Industry Minister Pimphattra Wichaikul underscored that the industrial sector was largely responsible for greenhouse gas emissions in the past decades.
She said the ministry and department were committed to driving the Thai industrial sector on the path of sustainability and supporting the transformation towards green industry, with three mechanisms.
Green Productivity will drive Thailand to become a leading manufacturing base for electric vehicles (EV) and components. It will support the use of clean energy, such as installation of solar rooftops and the ‘Green Power Plant’ project, besides establishing Thailand’s first circular industrial estate in the EEC area. Recycling will be promoted to reduce industrial wastes. Support for quality sugarcane farming will facilitate the use of sugarcane leaves as biofuel in biomass power plants to address PM2.5 issues. Innovation will be promoted to improve production efficiency in an environmentally friendly manner, such as green mining, green industry, and the BCG (bio-circular-green) economic model.
Green Marketing will prepare the industrial sector and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for the new era markets with trade barriers, laws, and regulations related to managing global warming challenges. It will support the Carbon Footprint of Product and Carbon Footprint of Organisation initiatives, and promote environmentally friendly packaging.
Green Finance will provide low-interest funding sources to help industries achieve sustainability. This includes decarbonisation loans from various SME funds, BCG loans from the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand, and business loans for environmental purposes for BCG.
The ministry and department believe that these mechanisms could help over 1,800 industrial operators nationwide increase their profits while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 7.2 million tonnes per year, bringing Thailand closer to the target of achieving carbon neutrality in 2050 and net zero emissions in 2065.
