PARIS - Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha pledged at the opening of the United Nations (UN) 21st Conference on Climate Change (COP 21) that Thailand will help reduce fossil fuel use and boost renewable supplies in line with the country's Power Development Plan 2015.
Gen Prayut said land transport must be reduced and rail transport expanded across the country.
Thailand also will implement measures to prevent forest encroachment, ensure better water management and implement a haze management roadmap, he said.
The prime minister on Monday night (France time, early Tuesday Thailand time) told 150 world leaders and about 4,000 delegates from 195 countries who attended the opening of the meeting about the country's target to help cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20-25% by 2030.
He said Thailand would work with the international community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Thailand had thrown its support behind a new universal agreement for a legally binding reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and expected negotiations among countries would be a success.
This agreement will be based on the goal to limit the rise in global temperatures to below 2C.
Each participant country will declare their Intended Nationally Determined Contributors (INDCs) to cut greenhouse gas emissions. More than 180 countries, covering close to 100% of global emissions, have submitted their proposed INDCs to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Gen Prayut said Thailand was aware climate change could cause disasters such as extreme drought, a collapse in food security and declining natural resources.
"Green industries must be started to generate income while cutting greenhouse gas emissions," he said while calling on developed countries to transfer know-how and technology to less developed ones.
US President Barak Obama urged the negotiators to deliver a meaningful deal, because the next generation is watching. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called on all leaders to instruct their negotiators to take bold climate action.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha laid flowers at the Place de la Republique in Paris, in memory of the victims of the Nov 13 terror attacks. (Photo courtesy of Government House)