Climate action an opportunity to move towards achieving sustainability, says PM

“Many might see climate action as a burden, but I see this as an opportunity. An opportunity for Thailand and our climate sector to move towards sustainability,” he said during the speech at the event ,“Thailand Climate Action Conference”.

Srettha said Thailand has committed to accelerate climate actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30-40% by 2030. However, he said cooperation from the private and public sectors were necessary to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 and net-zero carbon emission by 2065.

He outlined guidelines to develop a sustainable economy, such as promoting the use of electric vehicles (EVs), increasing the use of renewable energy, promoting low-carbon rice cultivation and launching green finance.

He added that the government had launched financial measures worth more than 450 billion baht to invest in the green economy and green taxonomy, aiming to encourage the private sector to invest more than 1.6 trillion baht in sustainable development goals (SDG)-related businesses by 2030.

The government will drive Thailand towards a low-carbon society without leaving anyone behind, he added.

Meanwhile, Environment Minister Patcharawat Wongsuwan said Thailand had to boost its potential to deal with the climate change, which was likely to intensify.

The Department of Climate Change and Environment has been established to enhance climate action and deal with future challenges, he said.

Echoing Srettha, he reiterated that all sectors should cooperate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the impact of climate change.

"The results of this conference would be in Thailand's report during the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties [COP28] scheduled to be held in Dubai from November 30 to December 12 this year," he added.

Climate action plan

Phirun Saiyasitpanich, secretary-general of the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning, said 30% of greenhouse gas reduction by 2030 would be made domestically, while another 10% would come from partnership with other countries.

He said the office was working on a climate action plan, expecting to finish before COP28 in Dubai.

The plan includes promoting low-carbon rice cultivation, seeking partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emission, reforestation, promoting EVs and renewable energy, adopting carbon taxation, he explained.

All climate action must be driven together to achieve the carbon neutrality goal, he said.

He said Thailand would launch a climate change fund to support business operators in low-carbon society transition in November this year. The second phase of greenhouse gas reduction in 2025 will be more challenging, he added.

Shifting to clean energy

Sarat Prakobchart, deputy director-general of the Energy Policy and Planning Office, said the Energy Ministry was working on its National Energy Plan (2023-2037), as the industry was among the three biggest greenhouse gas emitters, along with transportation and construction.

He said the plan focuses on promoting the use of clean energy, energy storage and EVs, as well as boosting energy efficiency and creating an ecosystem that supports clean energy.

“If this plan achieves success, we would have a variety of clean energy, such as those from solar, wind, water and waste,” he said. He said there would be a small portion of fossil fuel, but expected it to be phased out in the future.

He said the ministry would work on grid modernisation to maintain a balance between energy demand and supply, as well as opening clean electricity trade.

He believes that these efforts will benefit Thailand’s economy, boost the country’s competitiveness, create jobs, attract investments and promote environment preservation.

Enhancing mobility

Panya Chupanich, director of the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning, said the Transport Ministry had set up a plan to develop eco-friendly transportation, while ensuring all people could access the services.

He said the ministry had implemented various measures — development of urban and inter-urban transportation, promoting EVs and boosting automotive efficiency.

On the development of urban and inter-urban transportation, he said feeders would be launched to facilitate people in travelling. More train routes, double-track railway, highways and high-speed trains are being developed to ensure smooth transportation, he said.

He said the ministry was also working on setting up automotive standards, taxation on carbon dioxide emissions and encouraging people to purchase eco-friendly vehicles.

There are also additional measures, such as promoting the use of sustainable aviation fuel and hydrogen, he said, adding that all missions aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enable Thailand to achieve the carbon neutrality goal.

Industrial revolution

Julapong Thaweesri, director-general of the Department of Industrial Works, said the Industry Ministry had set up a carbon neutrality plan, focusing on developing eco-friendly cement, refrigerants and other construction materials, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and wastewater management.

He said the ministry was also interested in maximising the use of materials to develop a circular economy.

For instance, sodium silicate from rice husk ash, food supplements from tuna bones, construction materials from plaster mould and gypsum board from synthetic gypsum, he explained.

He added that the department was promoting industrial facility operators to work on green industry initiatives, aiming to attract all Thai operators to join the initiative by 2027. As many as 49,613 facilities have joined the initiative, he added.

Efficient waste management

Chinnakorn Deesuya, director of the Department of Local Administration’s local environment division, said the Interior Ministry was promoting provincial agencies nationwide to boost the efficiency of waste management.

He said the department had cooperated with Chulalongkorn University on developing a compostable waste bin that would help in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The bottom of the bin has been removed to enable waste decomposition.

“With cooperation from 22 provinces, the department generated more than 85,000 tons of carbon credit worth 22 million baht as of March this year,” he said.

In the next phase, he said the project would be expanded to 77 provinces by 2026, expecting to generate more than 1.8 million tons of carbon credit.

Efficient budget allocation

Wisnuwes Sawetnan, director of the Budget Bureau (BB)’s economic budgeting division 2, said the government had set up guidelines to ensure effective budget allocation to drive Thailand towards the goal of carbon neutrality goal:

• Top-down policy: including climate actions in the national agenda
• Function process: promoting smart agriculture, waste to energy and circular economy
• Budget allocation: proposing budget allocation for sustainable development projects, such as a 450-billion baht budget to promote green economy
• Integrate partnership: seeking cooperation between the government, private and civil society
• Single command: setting up a roadmap, master plan and action plan

We believe that these efforts would enable Thailand to achieve three goals, including greenhouse gas reduction, carbon neutrality and net-zero carbon emission, he added.

Need for fair measures

Andrea Camponogara, global coordination lead at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's Regional Collaboration Centre, said the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had indicated that people vulnerable to climate change were those who were unable to adapt themselves.

"Many people are at risk of water and food shortage," he said.

He highlighted that the regions that would be affected the most by climate change were Africa, Asia, South America and Arctic, as well as developing and island countries.

We have to cooperate and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by half to pre-industrial level by 2030, he said.

He said climate change-related measures must be fair, adding that funds for climate change should be increased to eliminate poverty, enable people to access clean energy and boost the potential of environmental preservation.