Germany invests 690 million baht to help Thailand adjust to climate change

May 18, 2018

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(l-r) Mr. Somkiat Prajamwong, Secretary-General of National Office of Water Resource, Mr. Tim Mahler, Country Director of GIZ Thailand and Malaysia, Dr. Raweewan Bhuridej, Secretary-General of Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP), Dr. Wijarn Simachaya, the Permanent Secretary of the Thai Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE), H.E. Ambassador Peter Pruegel and Mr. Stephan Contius, Commissioner for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).

Germany is investing almost 700 million baht to help Thailand’s government and business sectors develop climate-friendly approaches in the energy, waste, water and agriculture sectors and address overall climate change.

The two countries celebrated the launch of Thai-German Climate Programme at the German embassy April 23, with German Ambassador Peter Prugel saying the project will help the Thai government create “a framework that aims at more sustainable sourcing, more energy efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions”.

Pattaya residents at the seminar. (l-r) Marcus Schneider, Elfi Seitz, Marlis Wenger and Dr. Wolfgang Schwertner.

The 17.9-million-euro project supports the Thai government in the development of an ambitious climate change policy and its implementation on the national, provincial and local levels, thereby strengthening the kingdom’s contributions to the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Goals include connecting climate change and energy policies, connecting national, provincial and local development-oriented adaptation and mitigation strategies, connecting ongoing support projects and facilitating political dialogues between Thailand’s Energy and Natural Resources Ministry and Germany’s Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, which is financing the program through Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ).

“Since 2009, the German Federal Environment Ministry has financed more than 13 bilateral projects in Thailand with a total value of nearly 50 million euros (about 1.9 billion baht) focusing on mitigating CO2 emissions and helping Thailand to adapt to climate change as well as to protect forest areas and biodiversity,” Stephan Contius, commissioner for the German ministry’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development said at the launch.

“Business-as-usual 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,” he said.