The Wastewater Management Authority (WMA) is willing to contribute to Thailand’s stated efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the wastewater sector as part of the nationally determined contribution (NDC) roadmap.

The Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) is a country commitment to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions under Paris Agreement with the aim to prevent the global temperature rising by more than 2 degree Celsius. Thailand, as one of the signatories to the Agreement, has developed a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) roadmap on Mitigation 2021–2030 to indicate how the country is attempting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in each sector. The reduction target has been set at 20-25% by 2030 and wastewater is included in the roadmap.

The Wastewater Management Authority, together with GIZ and International Water Association (IWA), under the umbrella of the Water and Wastewater Companies for Climate Mitigation (WaCCliM) project saw this inclusion as a golden opportunity to develop a plan for climate mitigation in domestic wastewater and support the national NDC roadmap for 2030. To this end, GIZ organised a workshop on “Strategic training on development of greenhouse gas reduction in domestic waste water and on climate finance readiness (CliFiT)” from 10 – 11 July 2017 in Eschborn, Germany.

The results of a fruitful discussion between the WaCCliM project team and Mr. Chira Wongburana, Acting Director General of Wastewater Management Authority, cleared the path for WMA to achieve climate mitigation in domestic wastewater through the “Climate mitigation in domestic wastewater 20 year-plan (2017–2036)”. Once the plan is finalized, WMA will submit it to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to underline the commitment of the domestic wastewater sector.

“WMA will be the first wastewater entity to have an action plan for climate mitigation and WMA will be a front runner for other entities and a mentor for local government in climate mitigation for domestic wastewater management,” Mr. Chira Wongburana noted.