Launch of NDC Support Project: Delivering Sustainability through Climate Finance Actions in Thailand

June 27, 2019

 28 June2019, Bangkok –The Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP) together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), today launched a new project to support Thailand in making progress on its commitments under the Paris Agreement, the so-called Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs. The newly launched “NDC Support Delivering Sustainability through Climate Finance Actions in Thailand” project, will support the development of financing frameworks for climate action, with the generous support from the Governments of Germany and Sweden.

Building on a strong partnership between ONEP and UNDP, thenew 3-year project aims to initiate Thailand’s Climate Change Financing Framework (CCFF) to provide the holistic and inclusive approach for climate action needed to ensure the reduction of carbon emission levels and build resilience of communities against increased climate risks such as more frequent flooding, droughts, landslides, and heatwaves.

According to Germanwatch, Thailand is ranked tenth on the Global Climate Risk Index 2019. In addition, 60% of agricultural land or approximately 14.4 million hectares or 90 million rai in Thailand are prone to droughts and/or floods. This shows how climate change has the potential to unravel decades of development progress and threaten Thailand’s achievements.

“The priority of climate change in Thailand was recognized both in term of carbon emission reduction and climate resilience aspects,” said Phirun Saiyasitpanich, Deputy Secretary-General of ONEP. “We have initiated and integrated climate change into the core objectives at all levels of our national development policies including the prominent regulations focusing on the 20-year National Strategy, the 12th National Economic and Social Development Plan 2017-2021, and Thailand’s Climate Change Master Plan 2015-2050.”

To unlock Thailand’s responses to the growing threats of climate change, multi-faceted and inclusive approaches are needed for systematic and integrated financing mechanisms on climate change and its impacts. The goal of the project is to support the formulation of an inclusive, gender-responsive public budgeting process on climate change, the assessment of public incentives in stimulating investment to cut down on the source of climate change, and foster cooperation between public and private sectors for long-term relationship for future infrastructure investments.

H.E. Mr. Georg Schmidt led the sustainable ways of living to combat the climate change.

“Germany is Thailand’s most important bilateral climate partner,” said Georg Schmidt, German Ambassador to Thailand. “This includes waste management, the use of solar energy, flood preventing measures or the production of energy efficient refrigerators. Overall the German government has spent 60 million EUR since 2008 on such bilateral projects in Thailand – and is willing to do so in the future. Looking at finance is important: Many critics say: Combating climate change is too expensive. I would answer: Not combating it costs us and future generation much more.”

Climate change affects everyone differently, from the most vulnerable in the drying plateau in the Northeast provinces to the industrial complex in the Eastern Economic Corridor.To fully engage with wide ranging stakeholders, the project will engage with private sector, civil society, local communities, and government agencies at national and sub-national levels. Thus creating a participatory process in addressing climate change and fostering resilience of the poor and most margenalized.

“And with respect to climate change, several studies have confirmed that climate change will worsen existing gender and rich-poor inequalities and that women and children as well as other vulnerable groups face much larger negative impacts associated with their limited options for adapting to or managing risk,” said Åsa Hedén, Head of Development Cooperation Section of the Embassy of Sweden.

“We are here today to begin this Whole of Government approach to bring climate finance and policy to address this mounting global issue,” said Renaud Meyer, Resident Representative of UNDP Thailand. “We are ambitious in our endeavor to tackle climate change. The partnerships that we are forging in this project between governments, private sector, and civil society on climate change will drive us towards Whole-of-Society solutions to achieve climate change commitments and contribute to the achievement of the sustainable development goals.”

A stronger emphasis on an integrated approach in Thailand’s response to climate change will not only reduce the carbon emission and build resilience but also ensure the country’s foundation for an inclusive and sustainable future.

As Deputy Secretary-General Phirun Saiyasitpanich reiterated, “Climate change is not simply an environmental issue. It’s a challenge that we all share as a society. With your active participation, we will share our ambitions through NDCs implementation. I am more than confident that the NDC Support project will lay the foundation for our future coordination to achieve our climate ambitions and the SDGs”

For more information, please contact:

Krib Sitathani, Project Manager, UNDP Thailand

krib.sitathani@undp.org| Tel: +66 (0) 2 304 9191 ext. 5305 

NDC Support Programme is a global programme aimed to support countries pilot gender-responsive NDC development and implementation, climate governance and mainstreaming, mitigation and adapation actions, transparency systems, climate finance and private sector engagement. The programme is supported by German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMU), the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the European Union, and the Government of Spain. For more information, visit our website.

Strengthening Governance of Climate Change Finance to Enhance Gender Equality in Asia Pacific Programme is a regional programme aimed to integrate climate change activities into countries’ development planning and fiscal policies while promoting achievement of other SDGs such as climate action including gender and poverty reduction. The programme is supported by the Government of Sweden. For more information, visit our website.

UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in more than 170 countries and territories, we offer global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations. For more information, visit our website