3 March 2025 – The Cabinet of the Kingdom of Thailand has approved the Grant Agreement of €4.4 million (around 167 million Thai baht) under the Thai-German Cooperation on Energy, Mobility, and Climate (TGC EMC) programme between the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP) and GIZ, supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK). The funding is the seed fund under the ThaiCI Fund to support project implementation to enable Thailand in addressing climate impacts and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in line with Thailand’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) by 2030, in accordance with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Activities under the ThaiCI Fund to support the implementation of greenhouse gas reduction and climate change adaptation projects

The Thai Climate Initiative (ThaiCI) Fund, implemented through the Environmental Fund, has a project duration of five years, from 2022 to 2027. In 2023, the fund launched the first call for proposals and conducted capacity building sessions for interested applicants. Key focus areas included greenhouse gas mitigation projects targeting SMEs in the hotels, and iron and steel sectors, as well as climate change adaptation projects, for which concept notes were invited and full proposals are currently being accepted from both shortlisted applicants and additional interested groups. At present, 42 proposals have been submitted from the hotels sector, 17 from the iron and steel industry, and 228 concept notes for adaptation projects. All submissions are currently under review by the Sub-Committee for Project Screening in Climate Change and the Environmental Fund Committee.
The previous open call for proposals showed that there are a variety of measures in the private sector, with many interesting greenhouse gas reduction initiatives under the ThaiCI fund. These include measures such as increasing electricity efficiency by switching electrical equipment (using chiller air-conditioning systems instead of traditional air-conditioning units), reducing fossil fuel use by changing water-heating systems (using heat pumps instead of traditional boilers) in hotels and accommodation businesses, and measures for clean energy, modifying machinery or improving production processes for greater efficiency in the iron and steel industry. However, for Thailand to genuinely prepare for and effectively tackle climate change, supporting climate change adaptation projects (particularly at the local level) remains crucial. For instance, a project concept of farmers in northern Thailand on changing approaches for lac insect and beekeeping in suitable agroecosystems under climate change, demonstrating climate adaptation in economic, social and environment aspects.

The Cabinet’s approval of the Grant Agreement marks a significant step towards initiating financial support for both GHG mitigation and adaptation projects under the ThaiCI Fund. This will provide valuable insights for designing an appropriate climate change financial mechanism.