Thailand’s climate change and monetary governmental organisations recently acquired and exchanged knowledge, lessons learnt and case studies with international and German institutions on the topic of climate finance.

From 20-24 May 2019, Thai delegates from public and private entities including the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (including the Climate Change Management and Coordination Division and the Environmental Fund Division), the Fiscal Policy Office, the Public Debt Management Office, the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council, the State Audit Office of the Kingdom of Thailand, Bank of Thailand, and the Thai Banker’s Association, attended a 5-day exchange visit in Germany. German and European public and private institutions such as the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF), the Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE), the European Investment Bank (EIB), Deutsche Bank, German development bank (KfW) and the German Stock Exchange gave presentations and shared experiences on mobilising climate finance from different sources.

The exchange trip highlighted:

• Possible policy instruments i.e. surcharge, carbon tax, climate initiative, etc. that could be used to leverage finance for climate-friendly investments
• Green Climate Fund (GCF), its approaches and the benefits of its terms and policies for the business sector
• The roles of the international, German and eventually also the Thai banking sector in mobilising climate finance, ensuring climate-friendly/sustainable investment
• International best-practice and business models behind climate finance

A site visit to view the actual implementation of projects was incorporated in the trip. An energy self-sufficient village project showed how energy from renewable sources such as solar, wind and biomass is fully and entirely used. This project is funded by public funds from the municipality, state government, EU and private companies. The second site was the city of Ludwigburg’s green living room project which provides green and self-sustained spaces in the urban areas while a parallel urban development project incorporates green and climate-resilient ideas into the development of residential housing.

“As a State Audit Officer, this study trip has enhanced my knowledge and understanding of climate change and climate finance as well as the financial tools and instruments that can be utilised not only to raise public awareness about climate change but also to promote public and private cooperation. Moreover, the exchange with international and German institutions has provided me with some ideas on how to monitor and evaluate the use of climate finance in Thailand in the future.” – Ms. Nuntida Buayam, the State Audit Office of Thailand.

The exchange provided the Thai delegates with a better understanding of climate finance policy and its mechanisms which they could apply in their work.

The trip was organised by the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP), as the Thai National Designated Authority (NDA) to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), supported by GIZ, in the context of Thailand’s GCF Readiness work.