The Experts Consultation Workshop for Climate Risk Assessment Contextualization for Coastal Marine sector in Thailand was a collaboration between GIZ and the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP) under the Climate Coastal and Marine Biodiversity Project (CCMB) project, which aims to verify the current zoning of Thailand’s marine and coastal sector as well as existing and known climate pressure on each specific zone. Thailand’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP), which acknowledges the natural resources sector as a key area in need of urgent focus, lists the marine and coastal resources sector as one of the priority sectors. The challenge for the sector is the lack of data while existing data are sometimes inconsistent. Therefore, it is vital to look at the sector according to the specific context of each sub-region within the country that has been affected differently by various climatic factors. Additionally, the socioeconomic conditions in each area are different, meaning that they are not all equally vulnerable to the effects of climate change. It is thus crucial to conduct a verification process with experts from different fields.

The consultation cumulated into a detailed context analysis of the 18 zones that cover the entirety of Thailand’s coastal area. A further look into some other climatic factors such as monsoons and currents indicate cross-cutting issues that will impact other sectors ranging from human settlement, food security, water resources and even agriculture. Some of the observed changes are in line with global trends and climate patterns, but some are not entirely explainable and would require further studies to understand the causation and potential impact on the topic to address the knowledge gap and uncertainties.

This consultation is a good step towards a more resilient future for Thailand by looking at climate change as a holistic approach including the socio-economic context, in line with the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) view on resilience. The event also featured a variety of participants, forming a group of 20 representatives ranging from leading academics to NGOs that work in communities where local people experience changes first-hand. The more inclusive approach would also indicate some smaller-scale changes that might be overlooked at a larger level. Information gathered from this workshop still needs further consultation and data gaps still need to be filled in order to create a more comprehensive risk analysis as a vital foundation for adaptation work in Thailand, which the CCMB project intends to support. Understanding the oceanic current and physical monsoon data might also contribute to a wider regional understanding of the topic.