Thailand has just submitted a new climate plan, which maps the Southeast Asian country’s path towards a climate-resilient and low greenhouse emissions future.
The last few months are seeing big advances for global climate ambition. China’s pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 latest (insert hyperlink), and the EU’s renewed efforts to achieve the Paris Agreement’s objectives (insert hyperlink) seem to have created a ripple effect, causing many countries to follow.
Thailand’s new climate plan sets a goal of a 20% reduction in greenhouse emissions from the projected business-as-usual (BAU) level by 2030, although the objective shows some leeway for improvement, and it could be increased to a 25%.
Some of the measures presented in the NDC are as follow:
– Enhancement of electrification of transport, and technical support for battery changing technologies
– Promotion of waste-to-energy technologies
– Exploration of the potential of offshore renewable power generation systems to provide alternative energy sources
– Support the development of education and training programs related to climate change at all levels
– Development of a national monitoring and evaluation system if climate finance-related policies
– Assistance to the UNFCCC National Focal Point to develop financial instruments, mechanisms and approaches to engage private sectors in the NDC implementation.
Thailand is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and is currently ranked 13th in the “extreme risk” category, which means that tackling climate change is considered one of the key challenges for the future of the country.
Countries are expected to submit revised climate plans ahead of the COP26 global climate summit.
You can read the full NDC here.
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