1 September 2023, Bangkok – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), the Energy Research Institute, Chulalongkorn University (ERI), implementing partners under the Clean, Affordable, and Secure Energy for Southeast Asia (CASE) project, together with Fair Finance Thailand and Greenpeace Thailand organised the Climate Finance and Thailand Taxonomy: Opportunity & Challenge event on 1 September 2023 at Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok. This event aimed to address common challenges faced by stakeholders in energy transition by discussing financial mechanisms and facilitating an exchange between stakeholders in Thailand’s energy and financial sectors.

Jarukan Rassiri, Cluster Coordinator of the Natural Resources, Energy and Mobility Cluster for GIZ Thailand, gave the opening remarks, saying: “For the next 27 years, Thailand will be taking significant steps in the energy transition in order to achieve the Carbon Neutrality goal by 2050, to which it committed during the COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, and its Net Zero Carbon target in 2065. Cooperation between sectors is crucial in driving this success. One of the mechanisms or instruments is Climate Finance, which will play an important role in engaging with the business sector in participating in the greenhouse gas emission reduction journey.”

Kannikar Srithunyalucksana, Director of The Creagy, presented an overview and interesting insights from the “Climate Finance for Carbon Neutrality in Thailand” report. “The report proposes financial mechanisms or instruments that support the reduction of carbon emissions in the energy, transportation, and industry sectors in the sequence of implementation (i.e., short-, medium-, and long-term), which is in line with the Long-Term Energy Scenario (LTES) developed and launched by CASE. The report also highlights best-case scenarios from other countries. Financial mechanisms or instruments mentioned in the report include grants, soft loan and risk guarantee, and carbon pricing and climate bonds.”

The panel discussion that followed on the development of Thailand Taxonomy Phase 1 was led by Boonrod Yaowapruek, Managing Partner of The Creagy, and speakers Thanida Lawseriwanich, Senior Analyst from the Bank of Thailand, Natee Sithiprasasana, Vice Chairman of Biomass Energy, RE Industry Club, Sarinee Achavanuntakul, Research Lead from Fair Finance Thailand, and Kuba Gogolewski, lead campaigner of the Greenpeace Money for Change European campaign. The panel engaged in a stimulating conversation about how businesses can be profitable and contribute to Thailand’s growing economy but still keep the target of achieving Net Zero in mind. They also discussed how the recently launched taxonomy and other climate finance mechanisms impact business activities, and how to ensure a just energy transition.

Participants represented various groups of stakeholders from government agencies, financial institutions, and the private sector. The event was a good opportunity for CASE and its partners to present findings on the dynamic topic of climate finance, which will be beneficial to the group of relevant stakeholders to achieve net-zero.