รัฐบาลไทย-ข่าวทำเนียบรัฐบาล-Opening Remarks and Keynote Speech of Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand at the 2nd Thailand Climate Action Conference (TCAC 2)
วันศุกร์ที่ 6 ตุลาคม 2566
Opening Remarks and Keynote Speech of Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand at the 2nd Thailand Climate Action Conference (TCAC 2)
On 6 October 2023 at SX Grand Plenary Hall, G Floor, Queen Sirikit National Convention Center.
Excellencies Deputy Prime Minister,
Members of the Parliaments,
Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Distinguished participants,
In recent years, global climate change has become an urgent and serious problem. This is why Thailand has been actively implementing every means necessary to fight climate crises. However, this is not a problem that the government alone can solve, but one that requires collaboration from everyone in the society.
This is why I am so glad to see so many of you from across disciplines today. I hope that today’s event will serve as a platform for exchange of ideas, forging new partnerships, and taking actions. I believe that if all of us work together, we will be able to achieve great things.
During my recent trip to the UN General Assembly last month, climate change has been among the most important agenda. I had the opportunity to discuss and exchange ideas with world leaders at several Climate and SDG Summits.
During the Climate Ambition Summits, which Thailand was one of the only 38 countries selected to present our plans and commitments, I gave a strong message to the global community that Thailand remains committed to our ambitious pledge to accelerate our climate targets. We aim to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and net-zero emissions by 2065, in line with the 1.5°C goal under the Paris Agreement. We have raised our Nationally Determined Contribution goal from 20% to 40% by 2030
We use these ambitions to guide our national policies, including in the 20-Year National Strategy and the 13th National Economic and Social Development Plan.
I’m glad to say that we have already begun to see concrete results. In the energy sector, our focus is on energy efficiency, making a shift in the transport sector, and preparing to phase-out coal generated power by 2050. As a result, we were able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15% in the energy and transportation sectors from benchmark, in accordance with our target.
Our newly elected government plans to take further actions. We plan to increase the share of renewable energy, implement Utility Green Tariff program, support the usage of solar rooftop and net metering, and increasing usage of domestic electric vehicles.
Agriculture is also another vital sector to our economy and food security. We have started a pilot project to transition to low-emission, sustainable, and efficient rice production practice. This will help reduce emissions and also increase rice yields.
We are also focusing on driving the Bio-Circular-Green Economy to develop a whole-of-society approach so that no one is left behind. Our policy also includes adding value to biodiversity, science, technology, and innovation-based economy through the optimization of renewable resources and enhancement of sustainable livelihood.
Beyond reducing carbon emissions, we will also safeguard forests and enhance carbon sink. Thailand aims to increase green area to cover 55% of the total land area by 2037. This is projected to remove greenhouse gas by 120 tons per year.
During the Financing for the Future Summit, I emphasized that Thailand is actively promoting Green Finance Mechanism through the issuance of Sustainability Bond. Currently, we have raised 12.5 billion USD through this mechanism to fund multiple projects, including a new underground transit, and improvement to water management systems.
This bond has been well-received by investors worldwide, and was registered at the Luxemburg Green Exchange to further raise awareness on our green and social investments.
Next year, we plan to issue another set of Sustainability Linked Bonds, raising at around 2 billion USD to ensure that Thailand is at the forefront of the green financial market, and to ensure that all entities are incentivized to achieve our sustainability goals.
We have also developed “Thailand Green Taxonomy” as a standard setting tool. This will enable the public, private, and banking sectors to formulate policies, products, services, and investments to be in line with Thailand’s environment priorities in all dimensions.
Excellencies,
Distinguished participants,
Many might see climate action as a burden. But I see this as an opportunity. An opportunity for Thailand and our private sector to move towards sustainability. Through a paradigm shift in production and services, leading organizations have now promoted sustainable measures.
The government is making sure that we are in step these leading organizations. For example, we have fully prepared our domestic production and international trade for the enforcement of CBAM for its first wave. This includes products like cement, electricity, fertilizer, iron and steel, and aluminum, before its full enforcement in 2026.
We must treasure the “opportunity” to transform Thailand towards a balanced and sustainable growth. It is time for all of us to change our mindsets and behaviors on production and consumption to become more sustainable. This requires active and constructive cooperation from all stakeholders.
Foreseeing the urgency of climate action, Thailand has recently established the Department of Climate Change and Environment to respond to this challenge. We are also pushing to pass the Climate Change Act to regulate mandatory greenhouse emission reduction. This will lay a solid foundation for our transition to a low carbon society.
In the upcoming COP28, I will reaffirm our commitments as well as urge for multi-dimensional support -- access to technology, financial support, and capacity building to ensure that our goal is within our reach.
In closing, I would like to thank all stakeholders and partners for their roles and support to save this planet for our future generations. However, there is plenty more that we need to do to ensure that our success today lasting. I hope everyone has a great event and fruitful discussions. The government is willing to listen to ideas and suggestions coming out of the discussion today.
Thank you