On 30 January 2025, the Climate, Coastal, and Marine Biodiversity (CCMB) project, collaboratively implemented by GIZ Thailand, held its first Steering Committee Meeting at the Ari Samphan room of the Department of Climate Change and Environment (DCCE) to report on the project’s progress from 2022-2024 and present the work plan for 2025-2027, as well as gather recommendations from the committee to address potential gaps and the ways forward in implementing the project.

The chairperson of the steering committee, Dr Phirun Saiyasitpanich, Director-General of the Department of Climate Change and Environment (DCCE)

(From left) The co-vice chair of the steering committee, Dr Timo Menniken, Country Director for GIZ Thailand, and Songkiat Tatayanont, Deputy Secretary-General, ONEP

Committee members from key agencies joined the meeting including representatives from the Department of Climate Change and Environment (DCCE), the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP), Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA), the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR), Office of the Permanent Secretary, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MOTS), the Department of Tourism (DOT), the Office of the National Land and Policy Board (ONLB) and GIZ Thailand.

Dr Angkana Chalermpong, Programme Director of Climate, Coastal and Marine Biodiversity (CCMB), GIZ Thailand

(From left) Co-vice chair of the steering committee, Pavich Kesavawong, Deputy Director-General of the DCCE; Dr Kittisak Prukkanone, Director of the Division of Strategy and International Cooperation, DCCE; and Katunchalee Thammakul, Director of Biodiversity Management Division, ONEP.

Over the past two years, the progress of the CCMB projects has been comprised of the following key domains:

1. Adaptation: Supporting the formulation and submission of the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), technical studies to support long-term climate resilience strengthening in the Agriculture and Coastal Marine sectors, the revision of the nationwide climate risk map, as well as technical exchange on the national framework for climate information services and climate-risk assessment methodology.

Loss and Damage Workshop

Academic research to support building long-term climate in the agricultural and coastal marine sectors.

2. Biodiversity: Supporting the formulation of long-term strategies for biodiversity aligned with the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), serving as a framework for developing Thailand’s National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plan (NBSAP) and conducting stocktaking and gap analysis for Thailand’s preparation in implementing and ratifying the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS).

CBD COP16 Debriefing: ‘Driving the Goals for a Thriving Changing World’

Process diagram of Nagoya Protocol ABS from the nationwide workshops for Thailand’s Nagoya Protocol implementation and ratification readiness

3. Climate Finance: Supporting the development of innovative policy instruments and funding mechanisms, including the Thailand Taxonomy, to enable climate-friendly investments and activities in the agricultural, manufacturing industry, building and real estate, and waste management sectors.

CCMB supports the initiation of Thailand Taxonomy Phase 2

4. Mitigation: Supporting the sectoral action plan for the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) 2030, while also developing NDC 2035, which includes the development of a Carbon Sink Roadmap to achieve the target of reducing 120 million tons of greenhouse gases by 2037, and the development of an Emissions Trading System (ETS). This includes ongoing subsidiary legislation to support the implementation of ETS in Thailand.

5. Overall Synergy Activities: Supporting the development of the (draft) Climate Change Act. The project is also in the process of integrating climate mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity conservation into land and soil management, sustainable tourism management and sustainable urban green space management, and piloting potential areas for Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs) in marine and coastal zones. Chumphon province has been selected as a pilot area where an OECM management plan will be developed, taking into account climate change factors and the area’s greenhouse gas absorption potential. Additionally, the project supports establishing guidelines to safeguard biodiversity in mangrove forest restoration operations, assessing climate change impacts on tourism value chains, developing a tourism calendar that considers climate change and biodiversity, as well as incorporating greenhouse gas reduction measures and climate change adaptation into environmentally friendly tourism standards.

Thailand’s Climate Change Act public hearing event

The Steering Committee members acknowledged the progress and endorsed CCMB project’s work plan for 2025-2027, while also providing useful recommendations for implementing various project activities. Additionally, the committee agreed to hold such meetings every 6 months to periodically monitor the project’s progress.