From left: Mr. Somchai Masathian, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) Dr. Raweewan Bhuridej, Secretary-General, the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP) Mr. Tim Mahler, Country Director of GIZ Thailand and Malaysia and Dr. Alexander Raubold, German Embassy in Bangkok

On 26 July 2018, the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP) and GIZ’s Climate Policy Project organised a kickoff event to propel national climate change policy towards subnational implementation in 60 provinces across the country.

Mr. Somchai Masathian, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE), thanked the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and GIZ for contributing to Thailand’s efforts in the area of climate change over the past years and particularly for the results achieved in the previous phase, which has led to an expansion of programme activity to include all 77 provinces. Furthermore, the Thai-German cooperation has contributed to the formulation of a National Adaptation Plan (NAP) 2015-2019 for adaptation goals.

As the focal point for climate change issues, MNRE strives to translate national climate change policy into nationwide implementation. The meeting brought together all stakeholders who are combining efforts in integrating these policies in the respective sectors. The Regional Environmental Office will oversee the implementation in the regions, whereas the Provincial Office and Provincial Offices for Natural Resources and Environment will support the provincial planning. Other line agencies will also contribute to the success of the project execution, he added.

Dr. Raweewan Bhuridej, Secretary-General, the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP), presented the background and key objectives, stating that ONEP, as Thailand’s national focal point to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is tasked with the mission of supporting the realisation of ambitious national CO2-mitigation targets and adaptation goals. Furthermore, the Climate Change Masterplan (2015-2050) guides Thailand in achieving low-carbon development. ONEP is happy that the cooperation has extended to include all the provinces. The first phase, running from 2014-2017, covered 17 pilot provinces and 32 pilot municipalities. In the coming 4 years, 60 more provinces will be included. ONEP hopes that all stakeholders at both national and subnational levels will be able to successfully integrate climate change policy into development planning.

Mr. Tim Mahler, Country Director of GIZ Thailand and Malaysia, said: “The Thai-German Climate Programme (TGCP) is financed by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). Running from 2018-2021, the subnational implementation of the Programme´s support on climate policy applies 4 key development approaches: Institutional and Individual Capacity Building, Integration of Climate Change Policy at the Subnational Level, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Financial Mechanism Support.”

“GIZ and ONEP are determined to move forward by scaling up our subnational implementation work to countrywide action, covering the remaining 60 provinces across the country by applying our pragmatic approach and lessons learnt from the previous phase. This time, we aim to develop subnational governments’ capacities to integrate climate change aspects into their development planning and we need to work not only with environmental offices, but with several stakeholders in the provinces particularly the Governors’ offices under the Ministry of Interior.”