
Introduction
Thailand is projected to be severely affected by climate change, with its vulnerability shaped by geographical and socioeconomic features. The GermanWatch Global Climate Risk Index 2021 ranked Thailand’s long-term climate risk index as 9th in the world. Thailand has an extensive coastline, rural communities dependent on agriculture, and heavily populated urban areas located on flood prone plains. Climate change threatens all key sectors of Thailand’s economy: agriculture, tourism, and trade. Agriculture is also the second largest source of GHG emissions in Thailand, while rice cultivation is the main source of national methane emissions. Managed soils and livestock are also significant sources of GHG emissions. The agriculture sectors (agriculture, forestry and fisheries) employed around 30.67 percent of Thailand’s workforce (2018) and are key to provide nutrition for the rural society. Agriculture contributes 8.1 percent of Thailand’s GDP.
Country Climate Plans
Thailand’s Climate Change Master Plan (CCMP) (2015-2050) is the highest-level policy document guiding the national climate change response. Thailand has updated the CCMP and will submit their revised plan at the COP26. The revised CCMP outlines the country’s aim to be carbon neutral by 2065. Supported by SCALA’s predecessor programme, Integrating Agriculture in National Adaptation Plans (NAP-Ag), the country developed the Agriculture Strategic Plan on Climate Change (ASPCC) (2017-2021), which is aligned with the CCMP and provided sectoral input to Thailand’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP). The country’s NAP aims to ensure wide buy-in to the adaptation planning process by fostering inter-ministerial, inclusive coordination and cooperation based on sharing experiences and identifying synergetic interests among key stakeholders. Thailand’s NAP and its NDC recognize the importance of adapting the agriculture sectors to climate change.
Thailand submitted its updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the UNFCCC in October 2020. The NDC identified “safeguarding of food security” and “promoting sustainable agriculture” as core strategies to cope with climate change impacts. The updated NDC reconfirms the mitigation target provided in the first NDC, which was to reduce GHG emissions by 20 percent by 2030 below the business-as-usual scenario. The updated NDC includes an enhanced and elaborated adaptation component and aims for better integration of the NDC into the national planning processes. Agriculture and land use sectors are among the sectors prioritized for climate action – both for mitigation and adaptation.
Thailand’s NDC identified adaptation as a “top priority in Thailand’s national response to climate change” and lists adaptation priorities for the country, such as promoting sustainable agriculture and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), further safeguarding biodiversity, and restoring ecological integrity in protected areas and strengthening climate modelling capacity while promoting collaboration among relevant agencies. Additionally, the country is strengthening resilience by establishing effective early warning systems and enhancing the adaptive capacity of national agencies and building the capacity of farmers by creating and providing a knowledge hub to foster regional cooperation and to share experiences
In addition to Thailand’s adaptation efforts, the country has established its mitigation efforts. According to Thailand’s Third Biennial Update Report (2020) to the UNFCCC, the proportion of GHG emissions in the energy sector accounted for 71.65 percent of total emission sources in 2016, followed by the agriculture, and waste sectors. The country is in the process of formulating its Long-Term Low Greenhouse Gas Emission Development Strategy, which will guide Thailand towards a climate-resilient and low greenhouse gas emissions development and serve as a basis for enhancing its subsequent NDC.
Barriers
Project details
Subsequently, several sectoral departments with Thailand have convened to begin the consultative processes, including Rice Department, Land Development Department, Royal Irrigation Department, Fishery Department, Livestock Development, Department of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Extensions, and the Agricultural Land Reform Office and Office of Agricultural Economics. These meetings have provided baseline information on the level of climate vulnerability and risks, the sector climate adaptation and mitigation targets, the existing gaps for the acceleration of NDC and NAP implementation with support from the SCALA programme.
Over the next five years, Thailand will enhance climate action by building upon existing projects, plans and partnerships. Targeted support in harnessing private sector partnerships will be outlined in a private sector engagement plan for the implementation of agriculture priorities in the NDC. Furthermore, the country plans to involve subnational private sector value chain actors, as well as local communities and community-based organizations in identifying investment opportunities and risk reduction measures to help accelerate their involvement and opportunities in Thailand’s climate action.