On 18-21 June 2019, representatives from the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency (DEDE) and the Thailand Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (RAC NAMA) Project attended the Asia Clean Energy Forum (ACEF) 2019 titled “Partnering for Impact”, hosted and organised by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The group focused on discussions about energy efficiency and sustainable finance, exchanging with public and private stakeholders within and outside the conference.

ACEF, one of the leading clean energy events in Asia, is an established platform for knowledge and experience sharing as it is attended by a multitude of stakeholders in the clean energy and energy efficiency finance sector such as policymakers, practitioners, financial institutions, non-profits, donors and academia. There were sessions on global and regional trends in financing clean energy and energy efficiency, the role of governments in enabling clean energy financing, heating and cooling for buildings in cities, among others. The delegation from Thailand had an opportunity to network with different stakeholders and to attend a Deep Dive Workshop that was co-organised by GIZ, namely “The Future of Cooling – Promoting Sustainable Cooling through Technology and Policy Innovation”.

The trip presented an opportunity for DEDE to also meet and exchange with representatives of Philippine institutions. DEDE discussed with officials from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on initiatives for energy efficiency lending and financial schemes currently run in the Philippines. There was also an opportunity to discuss with the Energy Efficiency & Conservation Division Energy Utilization Management Bureau (EUMB) on legislation for Energy Efficiency (EE) in the Philippines and regulations on green public procurement. The topic of procurement policies for government EE projects was covered at a discussion with the Philippine’s Government Procurement Policy Board – Technical Support Office.

As DEDE is the agency responsible for EE policies and ESCO registration in Thailand, the discussions and knowledge exchange brought new insights that could be helpful for further policy making of DEDE regarding these topics in the future.