German Environment Ministry Launches Climate Protection Initiative in Thailand

Global warming, greenhouse gas emissions, the carbon market, ecological footprints, the clean development mechanism, climate change: all this new terminology stands for a global environmental phenomenon with potentially dramatic impacts on the biosphere and on local livelihoods.

From 2009, Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) within its International Climate Protection Initiative, will support six projects in Thailand to contribute to climate protection in Thailand. The BMU initiative uses the income from the sale of CO2 certificates through the emissions trading system in Germany to fund climate change projects worldwide. Four of the six projects in Thailand have been commissioned to GTZ for implementation, with the private company Solarlite GmbH and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) each carrying out one of the other two projects. In 2008, GTZ consulted with stakeholders and potential Thai partners about projects to be submitted to the BMU. All submitted projects received BMU approval to start in 2009 and will last for at least 3 years. The projects   implemented by GTZ are grouped into one large “Thai-German Climate Change Programme” and one large project on “Sustainable Palm Oil for Bioenergy”.

• How can we meet the social and economic challenges?
• How can we get prepared?
• Are our instruments adequate to minimize impacts?
• What market mechanisms are effective in mitigating emissions?
• What social and economic instruments really work?

The projects will directly benefit from the experience gained by the Programme for Enterprise Competitiveness (under the auspices of BMZ), where eco-efficiency, especially energy and resource-efficiency, and environmental management issues have already been prioritized. The projects aim at supporting, expanding and enhancing existing Thai initiatives which can benefit from German and international experience, expertise and best practice.

Climate Policy Project

The Office of Natural Resources and Environment Policy and Planning (ONEP) and GTZ will implement the Climate Policy Project in order to support the implementation of the Thai Climate Change Strategy (2008-2012), which has been developed by the Thai National Climate Change Committee. Beside the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE), there are 7 other Ministries involved in implementation: Ministries of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Energy, Agriculture and Cooperatives, Industry, Transport and Public Health.
 
Experts predict that Thailand will be severely impacted by climate change. In particular, current prognoses point to the expected rise in sea levels and its wide-ranging consequences for the Bangkok Metropolis, for intensive agricultural areas, coastal erosion and offshore fisheries. Inland, an increase in frequency and severity of flood incidents and desertification are also predicted.

Thailand’s climate-influencing emissions per capita are relatively high. This situation is seen as especially critical against a background of dramatic deficits in CO2 reductions in Thailand. In 2000, Thailand ranked 4th in levels of greenhouse gas emissions per capita among ASEAN countries, and 31st world-wide. Over 50% of the emissions come from the energy sector and around 25% from agriculture.

In order to address both these issues, in 2005, ONEP began compiling the first national strategic plan on climate change. The plan was coordinated with other energy and climate-relevant initiatives and strategies (see graphic) and now forms the basis for the Thai National Strategic Plan on Climate Change (2008-2012).

The National Strategy Plan on Climate Change aims at:

1. Strengthening of adaptability to climate change
2. Reduction of greenhouse gases
3. Support for R&D efforts
4. Awareness raising and participation
5. Building capacity of personnel and institutions
6. Improvement of international cooperation

Currently, the strategy is being implemented in various agencies at national and provincial levels, as well as among social groups. A master plan will provide orientation and implementing agencies will also be offered technical and organizational advice and capacity building.

The project’s aim is to strengthen the capacities for the development and implementation of the climate change policy of Thailand.

ONEP plans to establish a coordinating office which will function as the Secretariat of the Thai National Climate Change Committee as a kind of national clearing house. The scope and main focuses of the project have been discussed and agreed with ONEP. Thus, the cooperation between the governments of Thailand and Germany, in addition to the general political and organizational advice for the coordinating office and the master plan cover the following 4 areas:

1. Development of institutional and personnel capacities for the implementation of the climate change policy
2. Policy advice for climate protection, adaptation to climate change and reduction of emissions
3. Improvement of tasks within international cooperation
4. Awareness raising, environmental education and participation.

Project on Energy-Efficiency in Medium-sized Enterprises
 

Thailand ranks among the most energy-consumptive countries and depends to a great extent on imports. At the same time, energy consumption in comparison to growth in gross national product tends to increase strongly. By any measure, energy consumption is far from being decoupled from economic growth. This project is directly related to the task of “reduction of greenhouse gases” under the “National Strategy Plan on Climate Change 2008-2012”. Although the Energy Conservation Promotion Act (ENCON ACT) has existed since 1992, so far only intense price increases in the energy sector have led to increased energy awareness and a series of policy initiatives.

These initiatives were integrated into the Energy Policy and Development Plan (EPDP) by the end of 2006, and formed the starting point for numerous new measures and commitments by relevant ministries/departments. The contributions of GTZ’s project partner DIW (Department of Industrial Works) are based on this EPDP, particularly regarding energy saving, energy efficiency, alternative energy options, measures for “clean energy” and sustainable energy development. The Thai Ministry of Energy has announced a programme, by which the contribution of renewable energy will increase from its current 8% to 10% by 2011. The expected savings in energy costs are calculated at around 4.5 billion USD. The efforts of the private sector to increasingly use regenerative energy technologies are related to this target as well.

Despite the importance of developing renewable energy options, increasing energy efficiency is undoubtedly the fastest and cheapest way to save money and reduce emissions in Thailand. The project targets managing and technical directors of SMEs, energy consultants and decision makers in education and training institutions in energy issues. To reach these target groups, the project will work closely with the Federation of Industries (FTI). The scope of work is divided into three areas:

1. Analysis and evaluation of existing advisory services and promotional instruments and clarification of potential partners and targets;
2. Establishment and further development of energy efficiency services development of curricula;
3. Introduction of energy efficiency measures in medium-sized enterprises in selected sectors, value chains and industrial groups.

The energy sector will be supported in building up the necessary structures and capabilities to offer consulting services on energy-efficiency to medium sized enterprises by building relationships between Thai and German institutions. In addition, concrete measures to increase energy-efficiency in selected sectors are envisaged. The project draws on experience in improving energy-efficiency in the Thai agro-industry gained by the Thai-German Programme for Enterprise Competitiveness.

Project on Climate Protection in Tourism
 

Tourism is Thailand’s most important source of foreign currency. If tourism is considered as an export good, almost 13% of GNP derives from tourism. In recent years, annual growth rates reached approximately 7% p.a.; the livelihoods of over 4 million inhabitants depend on the tourism sector. In 2007 Thailand welcomed over 14 million foreign tourists, with an estimated 50 million domestic tourists per annum. Thailand’s natural beauty is a major attraction- over 14% of the country’s land area of Thailand is designated as national park land. Nature-oriented tourism thus plays an important role, particularly in coastal provinces, where tourism is the predominant source of income.

Considered as an important hub for international tourism, Thailand also plays an important regional role as a model for Southeast Asia’s tourism sector. Therefore, Thailand’s stance with regard to the global challenges of environment, energy and climate change in its tourism sector carry strong regional ramifications.

Nevertheless, Thailand lacks any in-depth and action-guiding national-level data and statements about the potential impacts of tourism on climate change.  Defining this could be part of the master plan for the national climate change strategy. Still, the available data  clearly confirms the  major contribution of tourism as a source of greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, it plays also a role for natural resource conservation and for the protection of land areas, which serve as tourist attractions as well as carbon sinks.
 
Environmental policy makers as well as the tourism industry itself are becoming increasingly aware of this situation and have become more pro-active. Some remarkable initiatives have been launched on sustainable management of natural resources, on environmental protection and use of alternative energy. The project will make use of some excellent local success stories, including environmentally friendly hotel management, regulations on energy-efficiency, integrated waste management, decentralized wetlands for wastewater treatment, educational campaigns for visitors and hoteliers about environment protection and biodiversity issues.

The scope and main focus of the activities have been discussed with DASTA (Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Authority), which serves as GTZ’s main partner in implementing  this project. The project will also work closely with the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) and the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR), provincial and local administration units as well as the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the private sector. Pilot areas are to be identified in Trat Province, covering the designated area for sustainable tourism of the marine national park and island group and “Muu Ko Chang”.

The project’s main objectives are to improve the framework conditions for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and implement measures for nature-oriented tourism to adapt to climate change:

1. To integrate experiences in implementing climate-relevant measures into planning and management instruments.
2. To steer nature-oriented tourism towards climate-friendly tourism by the application of the above mentioned planning and management instruments. 

The project’s activities include the following:

• Analysis and evaluation of previous experiences with measures in the fields of environment protection, resource efficiency, renewable energy and land use and regional planning.
• Capacity building for the development and implementation of climate-oriented planning and management instruments in tourism development
• Policy advice regarding climate protection in the tourism sector
• Awareness-raising and promotion of investment in climate-oriented measures, and enforcement of regulations.

Project on Sustainable Palm Oil for Bioenergy

In recent years, the demand for palm oil has risen continuously due to several inter-connected reasons. Whilst the surge in fossil energy prices certainly played an important role, climate protection and energy security issues, which led to increasing energy production from vegetable oils, are also partly responsible for the rapid rise in demand. Political promotion measures in various countries backed up this development, in Germany for instance via the NaWaRo-Bonus of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) and the blending quotas for fuels.

Worldwide, the fast expansion of palm oil cultivation has come increasingly under fire as it has been blamed for  negative effects on biodiversity due to its monoculture-based plantation systems and to be responsible for the destruction of rainforests. In addition, the effect of bio-energy on the price volatility of commodities has been critically discussed in the context of the food price crisis in April 2008 and there have been reports about bad working conditions on plantations and in palm oil mills. To avoid these negative consequences and to promote the positive effects, sustainability standards and certification schemes for bio-energy are currently being discussed and promoted worldwide and energy suppliers are attempting to purchase only sustainably-produced and certified vegetable oils on the global market particularly for biofuels, electricity and heat generation. The most advanced certification scheme is the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a multi-stakeholder initiative whose members already produce palm oil in compliance with stringent sustainability criteria.

Against this backdrop, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) commissioned the project on Sustainable Palm Oil for Bioenergy to be implemented for three years by GTZ in close cooperation with the Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE) in Thailand.

The aim is to promote the production of certified sustainable palm oil to serve the increasing demand from Europe, the establishment of a certification scheme for sustainable produced palm oil in Thailand, and to show that the production of palm oil as a source for bioenergy is feasible under sustainability criteria, preventing negative effects on the environment and society. The project will also address the issue of integrating smallholders who often are at risk of exclusion from standardization schemes due to the difficulties and high transaction costs regarding their certification.

Hence, the project comprises two components to achieve its ambitious goals. The first is the establishment of organizational and quality management systems to enable the certification of smallholder palm oil production in Thailand. Smallholders will be supported in building up the necessary organizational structures to deal with certification and will be trained on the required changes in production and farm management practice. The second component will support the institutionalization of the RSPO standard in Thailand and its adaptation to European requirements for the standard for biomass utilization. Moreover, the RSPO will be enabled to initiate a multi-stakeholder dialogue in which the international standard will be adapted to local conditions in Thailand.

The project will be aligned with the roadmap of the Thai National Palm Oil Board for the development of oil palm production in Thailand. Krabi province has been selected as a pilot area for the project, which will work closely with the provincial government, as well as other local stakeholders including cooperatives and individual private enterprises. Such close cooperation will be critical to the project’s success.