World's message to Thailand: hot air won't fight climate change

Worried there was more devastation to come, he had begun to educate schoolchildren about climate change.

It was the right thing to do, given that the adults of this generation barely talk about climate change, ignoring the reality and living their daily lives in business-as-usual mode. Meanwhile, future generations who will benefit from any actions taken today are too young to know what climate change will mean for them.

How many in Thailand know we actually have a climate change master plan for 2012 to 2050?

The plan emphasises the role of public-sector stewardship in inducing change, while also promoting partnership between public, private and civil society and the use of the polluter-pay principle (PPP).

But much of it is conceptual and ineffective. 

For example, we currently offer special tariffs for power generated from renewable sources. But this does little to tackle climate change when at the same time the real culprit – use of fossil fuels – is promoted by policies like the first-car scheme.

Not knowing how long I will live and how long I will have to endure news of worsening natural disasters, I am saddened by foot-dragging. Yet, on the bright side, it’s heartening to hear about genuine and effective efforts that will benefit all, including the laggards.

Biodegradable plastic bags are available at more and more supermarkets. Frozen food containers are being made of less-polluting materials.

Consumers are taking the issue seriously. And the business sector is following suit to project a positive image to the public.

In Thailand, Siam Cement stands out here. In the past few years it has introduced measures to combat environmental degradation and begun sharing best practices with other companies in Thailand and neighbouring countries.

Sadly, the same cannot be said of PTT. Aside from its so-called “green” Energy Complex, our national oil and gas firm has focused more on energy security than on sustainable growth. There have been very few reports on this issue from the conglomerate.

At another state enterprise, Thai Airways International, though the business is making huge losses, progress on sustainability is more obvious. THAI has joined the United Nations’ carbon offset programme, allowing its customers to pick the projects the funds will go to.

Airports of Thailand, which manages six international airports in the Kingdom, should also impress the public. Five of the six are now under the airport industry’s Airport Carbon Accreditation Programme, launched in Europe in 2009 to recognise airports’ carbon-busting measures.

While Suvarnabhumi is now at Level 2 in the programme (Reduction) to reduce its carbon footprint, the airports in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Don Mueang and Hat Yai are this year included in Level 1 (Mapping), whereby their carbon footprint is being measured. Though they are among only 21 airports in Asia-Pacific and 111 worldwide to be accredited, the good-news story has won little publicity.

In contrast, none of the provincial airports under the management of the Civil Aviation Department is in the programme.

That’s no surprise – the government sector sees noticeably less effort for energy efficiency. Government offices are still mostly lit by fluorescent bulbs, though energy-saving bulbs have been standard elsewhere for some time. Well, we can blame that on the limited budget.

Last weekend brought news that under its latest five-year business plan, the State Railway of Thailand aims to resume profitability in 2019. That period should also be devoted to considering policies to cope with climate change.

The “no-suit” policy to cut down on air-conditioning has been absent for some time, with energy authorities doing a marvelous job in ensuring no power outages.

Air-conditioners at five-star hotels and shopping malls are running at full capacity, even when the number of tourists and shoppers drops.

The Finance Ministry allows a 200 per cent deduction on corporate tax for research and development spending. Yet finding out the aggregate deduction in the previous fiscal year is difficult and time-consuming – an indication the government needs to do more to make this tax incentive more alluring.

Well, we can’t expect Thailand to be as ambitious as Europe. In October, the European Union announced new climate change mitigation and energy policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions by at least 40 per cent from 1990 levels by 2030. Yet, we should come up with something if we want to show the world how committed we are. How about an annual conference at the national level with speakers drawn from all parts of society? (Providing, of course, the National Centre for Peace and Order would allow it.)

The clock is ticking. The United Nations aims to build momentum for action with global discussion in Lima next month, followed by agreement on a post-2020 regime in Paris next year. Hopefully, the Thai government is prepared and knows what it has to offer.