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GTZ supports bilateral collaboration in the German Technology Symposium
The German Technology Symposium, held in Bangkok in November 2008, focused on energy and environmental technologies and climate change- new priority areas for both GTZ and the Thai government. GTZ conducted three symposiums on energy, climate change and capacity building. The symposium focused on their relevance to and impact on climate change, and attracted considerable interest from both the public and private sectors, including students. The human resources placement organisation for German Development Cooperation (CIM) shared the GTZ exhibition booth, and provided displays of CIM’s projects in Thailand. CIM staff members were on hand to provide information to Thai organizations interesting in recruiting foreign experts at the local rates. The discussions of the symposium are summarized below. This symposium was organized by GTZ to highlight the role of renewable energy and energy efficiency measures in contributing towards an ever-increasing demand for energy, and also on their role in mitigating the impact of climate change. Even by conservative estimates, over the next 20 years energy demand in developing countries will at least double. If this demand is primarily satisfied by fossil fuels, enormous environmental damage will ensue, both locally in the form of air pollution, and globally in its contribution to climate change. Increasing the use of renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) measures are effective ways to help curb these effects. In many cases, industry and private households are already benefiting from cost reductions resulting from more efficient schemes. Beside such concrete measures, improvements in the political framework and the introduction of targeted incentives are regarded as important in fostering business confidence in expanding the renewable energy sector. In this regard, finance for investment in renewable is considered one of the most crucial barriers. This symposium focused on financing mechanisms to support necessary changes. The symposium’s key questions were as follows:
To answer these questions GTZ invited three keynote speakers representing the Thai government- Mr. Sirithan Pairoj-Boriboon (TGO), Dr. Prasert Sinsukprasert (DEDE) and Mr Rangsan Sarochawiksasit (DEDE). GTZ is indebted to all three experts for sharing their insights during the final panel discussion. Mr Torsten Fritsche (GTZ) opened the symposium with a short introduction and an overview of German experiences. He presented key figures on the RE & EE policy and promotion programme in Germany and its impact on development of the two areas. Lessons learned from policy implementation in Germany and the worldwide experiences of GTZ in The first key note speaker, Mr Rangsan Sarochawiksasit of the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency (DEDE), presented Thailand’s own RE & EE plan including policy measures to stimulate RE & EE development. Mr Rangsan’s presentation was followed by the key note by Dr. Prasert Sinsukprasert of the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency (DEDE) with a presentation on the energy efficiency Loan Fund and tax incentive scheme. Dr. Prasert also explained the range of different fund in mechanisms now available in Thailand, including the Revolving Fund and ESCO Fund. The presentation was especially relevant to participants from the private sector who gained an enhanced understanding of how to access existing funding mechanisms to support planned RE and EE investments. Case studies of projects already benefitting from such support were presented, which should serve to motivate more investors and project developers to consider further RE & EE projects. The third keynote speaker, Mr. Sirithan Pairoj-Boriboon of the Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization (TGO) presented an overview of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) as an international financial instrument to offset carbon emissions. Private sector operators in Thailand can access CDM support via the TGO. After briefing participants on the current status of CDM worldwide, Mr Sirithan provided an update on Thailand’s CDM projects, highlighting the need to develop more CDM projects. Finally, he gave an outlook on the future development of CDM and expectations beyond the Kyoto Protocol. The symposium ended with a panel discussion to discuss challenges and opportunities for bilateral cooperation and how German technology can support the RE &EE development in Thailand. The symposium was attended by more than 150 high level participants from a diversity of stakeholder interests, highlighting the strong concern and relevance to Thailand. The energy symposium as well as the GTS exhibition has shown that interest and demand for German technology, service providers and expertise are very high in Thailand. The feedback and results from GTS 2008 are additional reasons for GTZ to continue and even extend their services in Thailand’s energy sector. Symposium on “Capacity building: the key to successful transfer of know-how” Whenever new technologies, innovations and structural changes play a crucial role in reform and improvement processes, lack of essential technological skills and implementation capacity are often cited as major obstacles to success. Identifying these needs and strengthening the performance of individuals, organizations and networks, is therefore crucial, and facilitates an effective and sustainable change process. Beside suitable technologies, management expertise is also needed at all levels in both public and private sectors. To demonstrate the benefits of this approach, as part of GTS08 GTZ and its partners conducted a symposium to review successful cases in capacity building from Thailand and the region. The symposium’s aim was to identify conditions and drivers of successful change processes and implementation. Four examples were presented, focusing on technology transfer and capacity building measures: Waste Management in Phitsanulok, Chemicals Risk Management in Thai Industry, Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in India and Sustainable Urban Transport in Asia. Although the cases were quite different in terms of structure, key technologies, target groups and level of stakeholder involvement, the presentations highlighted a common characteristic- that external awareness-raising and capacity building measures are typically needed to stimulate change to existing systems. In his presentation, Mr. Dr. Suthi Hantrakul, Deputy Mayor of Phitsanulok, commented on the need for greater public involvement in city development: “I would like to call it passion, this is what we need, a deep desire to look for the most benefits and win-wins, involving the public and communities so that everyone understands the problems fully, and participates fully in solving the problems.” “The availability of CDM funding opportunities. Without supporting training workshops and continuous acquisition of market knowledge would never succeed whether in India Thailand or in Germany. The training courses need to target government agencies, banks, companies, consultants, investors at several different levels. Backing this up of course effective international trade cooperation and networks are also needed in order to make CDM work for Thailand. Effective support for capacity building has helped position India as the country with the most advanced implementation of CDM. ” Mr. Manfred Breithaupt, GTZ expert on sustainable urban transport, added: ”In order to manage traffic problems in big cities, such like Bangkok, one needs to learn best practices from each other. It takes time and willingness, besides technology, for decision makers and citizens to realize and understand what it’s best for their city, in what kind of city they want to live in the future. Capacity building is therefore never a one way track, but a mutual learning environment for different people from different fields. This is one of the reasons for our regional and holistic approach.” Khun Helen Aromdee, Senior Expert from the Department of Industrial Works add when she presented an overview of chemicals risk management in Thailand over the past decade, and the attempt to bring Thailand into compliance with international standards and requirements: “Sometimes we do not see the immediate benefit of capacity building, as we do when we buy or build something. In the field of chemicals risk, the benefits are intangible, it’s more about not seeing something, such as major accidents”. Mr. David Oberhuber, the new Country Director of GTZ Thailand, summarized it as follows: “So it is also the ‘software’ which contributes to the success. It is about the people involved, not only about hardware such as machines, buildings, or equipment. This is also the reason why we and our partners are focusing on capacity development in parallel to our collaboration with technology and hardware providers.” Symposium on “Climate Change Strategies: Economic, efforts and potential” Dr. Kosit Panpiemras, the Chairman of the Board of Executive Director, Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited gave the keynote address on the topic “Capacity Building and Technology, Investment and Profit”. He underlined the necessity and urgency to cooperate internationally on this global issue. He also drew attention to the emerging economic opportunities for Thailand, mentioning as an example Thailand’s environmental service industry, which can and must grow with the new challenges. Concepts such as resource-, energy- and eco-efficiency are the key to optimizing cost structures, and at the same time directly tackling environmental issues and contributing to sustainable development. In her presentation on “The Thai Response to Climate Change” Dr. Punjaporn Weschayanwiwat, of the Thailand Environment Institute, presented the status quo of Thai efforts in the field of climate change. Although Thailand is not among the largest global sources of greenhouse gases (GHGs), the country will nevertheless face the impact of global climate change. Among the future impacts that Thailand must plan for today are a rise in the frequency and severity of natural disasters, new and re-emerging diseases, changing agricultural products, soil erosion and land loss, in particular from rising sea levels and human stress factors. Thailand has for more than a decade been involved in developing a climate change policy. Dr. Martin Pehnt from the Heidelberg Institute for Energy and Environment (IFEU) described some European approaches and policies. He focussed on Germany’s climate change policy and practical initiatives which have already resulted in surpassing the country’s Kyoto Protocol commitments for CO2 reduction. Among the world’s top economies, Germany is a leader in energy efficiency and in the contribution of renewable to final energy demand. The discussions demonstrate that the two countries could profit from increased levels of cooperation in this field, as Thailand’s emission mainly comes from the energy (> 50%) and agricultural sectors (25%). In the agricultural sector, the Thai-German Programme for Enterprise Competitiveness has already demonstrated how individual enterprises can profit both economically and ecologically by implementing energy- and eco-efficiency best practice. In regard to the urban built environment, Professor Dr. Juergen Baumueller (University of Stuttgart, and former Director of the Climatology Department of the City of Stuttgart) demonstrated the high potential benefits achievable by adapting to climate change through improving the effectiveness of city planning and management. A number of success stories were cited as examples of how to adapt urban development and construction to climatological information, bringing improvements in energy efficiency and urban air circulation. Finally Burghard Rauschelbach from the GTZ Environment & Climate Change Division, highlighted the potential of existing Thai-German cooperation and networks, whether in the fields of research, economics or politics, Citing the example of the Thai-German Climate Protection Initiative of the German Environment Ministry, it is clear that Thailand and Germany should make use of this unique opportunity to learn from each other and profit from existing cooperation. |