A hearing with experts was held to consult on the draft ASEAN Action Plan on Climate Change and Thailand’s strategic role ahead of its ASEAN chairmanship next year.

On 29 August, The Office of the Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP) and GIZ organised a public hearing workshop on ASEAN Climate Change Action Plan for Thailand. The objectives are to present the draft plan, stock take past and current work on climate change, identify gaps and opportunities for Thailand to play a prominent role on climate change issue. The insights will be used for shaping the draft Action Plan further.

About 50 participants from both government and private sectors attended the hearing. Divided into three group discussions: adaptation, mitigation, and climate finance-technology transfer, the experts learnt about each sectoral ministry’s activities, and discussed opportunities and challenges that lie regarding the work on climate change.

The session is the first time in a series to learn about relevant work on climate change and other environmental issues from key ministries. More stakeholder consultation processes including focused group discussions and other hearings are being planned over the course of this year and beginning of next year.

Established in 2009, the ASEAN Working Groups on Climate Change (AWGCC) works on five main areas: adaptation, mitigation, finance, technical transfer and other cross-cutting issues. The main task is to ensure a well-coordinated and integrated approach of each ASEAN Member State in coping with the impacts climate change.

On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), the Thai-German Climate Programme (TGCP) supports ONEP in carrying out its mandate as the country’s focal point on climate change and AWGCC. In principle, the programme supports Thailand in improving its adaptive capacity to cope with the changing climate, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as to take on a more prominent role in the international arena when it comes to climate change issue.