Thailand is looking to reschedule its plans to achieve net zero emissions 15 years earlier than promised, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
The ministry is confident that better cooperation from all stakeholders could make it happen by the year 2050, said the ministry's deputy permanent secretary Talerngsak Petchsuwan yesterday.
Two years ago, the previous government made the global commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2065 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Carbon neutrality requires compensating for emissions with offsets, while net zero requires reducing emissions.
The former Prayut Chan-o-cha government made the commitment during COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, in November 2021.
"We now have solid evidence about the country's ability to achieve the target earlier than scheduled," Mr Talerngsak said.
"We can adjust the timeframe by making it faster if we receive assistance from overseas, especially with up-to-date technology," he said. "We have seen strong efforts from stakeholders, especially in the business sector, that it is ready to adjust to the tightening of global regulations related to climate change mitigation."
Mr Talerngsak gave the example of the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (Cbam) which will affect Thai producers of cement, fertiliser, energy and steel exported to the EU as they will need to include a greenhouse emission cost for products entering that market.
"Local companies need to invest more in green technology in alignment with the EU market's requirement," he said. Cbam may be extended to agricultural products, textiles and other products in the near future, he said.
As part of its efforts to address climate change, Mr Talerngsak said the ministry and its partners have organised the Thailand Climate Action Conference, which will be presided over by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre tomorrow.