Germany jumps in on climate change

Bangkok and Berlin have officially launched a climate project to help Thailand meet its ambitious environmental targets.

The programme will run until 2021 and is being funded by the German government with a budget of up to 690 million baht. It will be implemented by the German development agency GIZ.

Thailand, a signatory to the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement, has promised to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20-25% against a “business-as-usual” baseline scenario until 2030.

“The strong push for an accelerated development of Thailand’s economy and the entailed high demand for energy keeps up the pressure on the Thai government to support a framework that aims at more sustainable sourcing, more energy efficiency, and reducing CO2 emissions,” German Ambassador Peter Prügel said.

Stephan Contius, commissioner for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with the German Ministry for the Environment, said “business-asusual is not an option anymore: both governments are very much interested in accelerating the implementation of the Paris Agreement and of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.

To that end, the programme will facilitate cooperation between governments, the private sector, and civil society regarding climate-friendly developmental approaches in the energy, waste, water and agriculture sector, as well as on general aspects of climate change, Mr Contius said.

Accordingly, the main implementing partners will be the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning, the Ministry of Energy, the Pollution Control Department, the Department of Water Resources, and the Rice Department.

The programme will further provide standardised training courses for authorities and stakeholders carried out by local training centres, as well as seek to foster cooperation between national and international research institutions like the German Fraunhofer Society as it aims to achieve significant longterm results.

Wijarn Simachaya, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, stressed Thailand’s commitment to including the results of international climate negotiations into national policies.

“With the submission of our first Nationally Determined Contribution in which we defined our climate goals and priority sectors, Thailand has set itself ambitious CO2-mitigation targets and adaptation goals,” he said.

“I am happy that we can extend our cooperation [with Germany],” he added.