The workshop was designed for discussions of the joint implementation and integration of the climate change policy at the subnational level. Representatives from ONEP, the Strategy and Planning Division of the Office of the Permanent Secretary under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Department of Environmental Quality, the Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization (Public Organization) and GIZ attended.

The Thai-German Climate Programme aims to drive climate change policy to implementation in 60 provinces in Thailand. The programme continues from the Support to the Development and Implementation of the Thai Climate Change Policy (CCA) Project, which ran from 2014 to 2017. The pilot areas comprised 17 provinces and 32 municipalities across Thailand.

At the brainstorming session, all relevant organisations agreed on the need to integrate their implementation in the same direction in order to be able to effectively drive climate change policy in the subnational level. This integration process should start with an analysis of the problems, the need for targeted areas, the benefits of targeted areas as well as the obstacles that affect the success of the areas.  In terms of implementation in each area, each organisation also requires good preparation, a clear process model, a determined role and responsibilities as well as continuous monitoring and evaluation. It was noted that budget limitations represent a major challenge for implementation and thus any allocation or request for funding should be further supported.

The workshop also proposed a common goal at two levels: subnational and national. For thesubnational level, the participants agreed that they should set a goal based on the development of the province to identify the direction and context of the areas’ requirements. This must consider 1) how to drive and integrate climate change implementation in the area, 2) whether people in the area have sufficient capacity or not, and 3) the organisation that will be able to provide support. For the national level, they should initially apply the goals of the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and the National Adaptation Plan (NAP). They should then consider the mission of each organisation. In the event any organisation has a same or corresponding mission, this should be merged and planned together to reduce duplication of implementation.

At the end of the workshop, further discussions were held on common implementation guidelines. The first part dealt with fiscal year 2018, for which each organisation has already set its own framework and budget for implementation and should therefore continue following that framework with the additional setting up of a joint communication channel. Consideration should be given to integrating activities where possible and as appropriate. The second part covered the long-term approach. Here, discussions focused on the establishment of an integrated mechanism, such as a working group under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the preparation of guidelines for joint action and also the request for budget to integrate the climate change implementation of the relevant organisations. This must be discussed in detail during the next process.