Thailand tops Asean in achieving SDGs

Thailand’s ranking has gone up one place from 44th last year, said network executive director Thanyaporn Krichtitayawuth, citing the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)'s Sustainable Development Report 2023.

She added that Thailand's score of 74.7 this year was higher than the average score for East and South Asia, which came in at 67.2.

Among the Asean countries, Thailand has been ranked first for five consecutive years (2019–2023), followed by Vietnam (World 55th), Singapore (64th), Indonesia (75th), Malaysia (78th), Philippines (98th), Brunei (102nd) Cambodia (103rd), Laos (115th) and Myanmar (125th).

Apart from the government's efforts to achieve the SDGs in line with its national development strategies, the Thai business sector has also played an important role in achieving the goals, especially SDG4 (quality education), SDG6 (clean water and sanitation), SDG7 (affordable and clean energy) and SDG12 (responsible consumption and production).

On SDG4, business operators have sent employees to work on projects to develop education in local communities, she explained, while for SDG6, business operators have launched groundwater bank projects to support more than 20,000 households in cultivation.

On SDG7, she said many business operators have suspended the use of coal and are aiming to increase the use of renewable energy in their operations.

On SDG12, business operators have adopted the circular economy to design new businesses and production methods that reduce material consumption, and have rejected the use of packaging with environmental impacts.

She added that the SDGs are not only targets, but tools that government, business and civil society sectors can utilise to achieve sustainability, inclusivity and resilience