Climate Change Master Plan 2015 – 2050

Thailand is facing a significant challenge to sustainable development due to Climate Change, a global situation caused by the economic development of developed countries during the post-industrial revolution. It is an important catalyst that causes the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and significantly intensifies greenhouse gas and Climate Change. Although Climate Change is a major global problem, it dramatically affects developing countries like Thailand in two main areas: Thailand must face and cope with the impacts of Climate Change, which include changes in seasonal patterns, the occurrence of more severe and frequent disasters, the degradation of natural resources, changes in the pattern and spread of pathogens and disease vectors bring about new and re-emerging diseases, etc.

As an agricultural country, Thailand has a development model and a way of life that depends on the abundance of the country's natural resource base. Climate Change poses a significant threat to the country's sustainable development goals, both in maintaining economic growth, eradicating poverty, and improving people's quality of life, including maintaining the balance of the ecosystem, the integrity of the natural resource base, and good environmental quality. At the same time, another problem that Thailand must face is the increase in greenhouse gas emissions from the country's development model that relies on fossil fuel energy and the rapid expansion of urban areas that make the demand for energy continues to increase, etc.

If Thailand and other developing countries maintain such a development model, it will intensify Climate Change and its future impacts, making adaptation and response more difficult. In addition, Climate Change has become increasingly important for many countries to cooperate in solving such problems. Thailand may face pressure in the framework of international cooperation in solving Climate Change problems that require more responsibility in solving problems and potential from trading partners with better technology and management of the production process of goods and services, which bring issues into regulations or trade regulations in various ways, such as collecting a fee for greenhouse gas emissions from flights flying into EU airspace and mandating carbon footprint labeling (carbon footprint), etc., by affected Thailand in term of the economic base that relies on exports and causing an inevitably affected or at a high risk of facing such problems directly.

Endeavor to solve Climate Change problems, it is necessary to push for cooperation at the global level. Thailand has seriously realized the need to cooperate with the world community. Therefore, Thailand has ratified as a party under the framework of (the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol (The Kyoto Protocol: KP) in 1994 and 2002, respectively. After that, they entered a meeting to discuss a framework for global cooperation in tackling Climate Change consecutively.

However, Thailand must have a strategy to deal with problems affecting or related to Thailand. "National Strategy on Climate Change Management 2008 - 2012" was the first issue on January 22, 2008, the Cabinet resolved that relevant ministries, sub-ministries, and departments use as a policy framework to convert the plan into action and ensure continuity of operations by preparing a master plan for Climate Change 2015-2050. It was intended to serve as a long-term framework for the operation of relevant sectors. The expectation is that various agencies will be able to apply the framework presented in the master plan to develop in-depth action plans to drive Climate Change solutions to success.

Source: Climate Change Management Coordination Division, Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning