Kingdom to sign carbon transfer deal

Thailand recently announced it will participate in the Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMO), a legal agreement between any two countries to market greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation outcomes.

Speaking at the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Varawut Silpa-archa, the Natural Resources and Environment Minister who led Thai delegates to join the event, conveyed the kingdom’s position on climate change. He said Thailand was ready to support the cooperative approaches instilled under the Paris Agreement that allow for carbon credit transfers between two countries.

According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the one active state buyer of ITMOs nowadays is Switzerland, while the World Bank has set up the Transformative Carbon Asset Facility (TCAF) to support and purchase mitigation projects.

Mr Varawut said Thailand has already prepared a set of national guidelines and mechanisms on carbon credit management.

“Thailand firmly believes that we have gathered here to do more than just talk. We need actions on all fronts and we need them now. I truly believe in humanity to consciously and collectively define our future. I am confident that working together, we will be able to fight against this common enemy we ourselves created,” he said, referring to climate change and rising emissions.

He said the country has met with success after revising its long-term low greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions development strategies, in a bid to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 and net zero GHG emissions by 2065.

Thailand also pledged to boost its nationally determined contributions to reduce GHG emissions by 30-40% in 2030, up from the previous target of 20-25%.

Thailand has accelerated its GHG mitigation actions in all sectors, he said. This includes increasing the production of zero-GHG emission vehicles to 30% by 2030, expanding the share of renewable energy sources that generate electricity by at least 50% by 2050 and supporting the commercialisation of carbon dioxide-removing technologies before 2040, Mr Varawut added.

“We also aim to increase our forest area to 55% to boost our carbon sink by 2037,” he said.