Focus on renewable energy, waste management critical, says Deloitte, as report lauds Thailand’s BCG model

Deloitte's positive comments came during the company's launch on Thursday of its new report, "Southeast Asia Sustainability Ambitions 2022”. The report outlines the sustainability challenges that Southeast Asian countries face, as well as the government's ambitions to address these challenges.

The US-Asean Business Council and Deloitte Center for the Edge collaborated on a study that focuses on detailed insights on Southeast Asian countries into five key sustainability factors: energy and climate, biodiversity, water, waste, and gender equality. These factors were chosen by US-Asean Business Council members.

Duleesha Kulasooriya, managing director, Centre for the Edge, Deloitte Southeast Asia, stated during the online video conference that Thailand is outperforming its neighbours in all five areas. However, waste management is Thailand's main concern now because the country ranks sixth in the world among plastic waste polluters of oceans.

Furthermore, urbanisation and climate change are current challenges to the country's development. In 2020, slightly more than half of the population will live in cities, and the country's urbanisation rate has been decreasing over the last decade.

Kulasooriya pointed out that with a sizeable proportion of the population living in rural areas, persistent challenges such as water service provision and municipal waste management remain. He also stated that climate change is causing extreme weather patterns, exacerbating and compounding these issues.

He suggested that Thailand empower the labour force while the country transitions from a developing to a developed one under the “Thailand 4.0” goal.

Drew Hasson, director (sustainability) of the US-Asean Business Council, said it is a critical and multifaceted challenge that touches on issues such as biodiversity, water, waste, and gender equality. Public-private partnerships will be critical in assisting Thailand and Asean in meeting these challenges, he said.

Kasiti Ketsuriyonk, sustainability and climate leader, Deloitte Thailand, added that Thailand's BCG model highlights opportunities for the private and public sectors to collaborate to achieve Thailand's net-zero economy commitment. Thailand, on the other hand, will require more investment and a strengthened ecosystem for both economic and technological solution development to keep the country on track in its decarbonisation journey.

Furthermore, he stated that there are numerous opportunities for collaboration between the public and private sectors in the areas of biomass-powered electricity generation, food waste valorisation alternatives, and wastewater network expansion through infrastructure projects and technical capacity building in order to build a sustainable and economically successful future for Thailand.

The report provides an overview of Southeast Asia and features a detailed analysis of nine countries — including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Kulasooriya stated that countries in Southeast Asia, due to geographical location and developing natural ecosystem, are more vulnerable to climate change than the rest of Asia Pacific.

"If Asean governments take decisive action on climate commitments, collaborate with the private sector, and mobilise grassroots action to address climate and sustainability issues, they will have the potential to fuel new growth engines in Southeast Asia. However, if Asean countries do nothing, they will cause damage of more than $28 trillion," he said.