Thailand, Japan join hands against climate change

Bangkok – According to Thai Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Varawut Silpacha, Thailand and Japan have agreed to establish a marine litter monitoring centre as part of their bilateral climate change cooperation.

Varawut made the announcement after a meeting with Hiroshi Ono, Japan’s Deputy Minister of Environment, in Tokyo on January 6 at which they discussed strategies to protect natural resources and tackle climate change.

The two sides shared experiences in tackling environmental problems, notably coastal erosion, wastewater treatment, and marine litter.

The environment ministries of both countries agreed to establish a jointly operated marine litter monitoring centre to serve as a model for the future.

The Thai minister said the two countries also agreed to exchange experience, technology and financial support in climate change operations under the framework of Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement. The framework allows countries to trade emission reductions and removals with one another through bilateral or multilateral agreements. These traded credits are called Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes.

Varawut highlighted with strengthened cooperation with Japan, Thailand is moving closer to the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

As climate change has become a serious international issue, many countries have taken action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. In Vietnam, the government has made a tremendous effort to combat climate change by ratifying the Paris Climate Agreement in 2016, pursuing the National Green Growth Strategy for 2021-2030, and implementing the Law on Environmental Protection which came into effect at the beginning of 2022.

With the steady rise in the number of climate-related companies and in their climate-related revenues, climate change has become more and more significant as a mainstream investment theme. Looking further into the data, we can see that the universe of climate solutions is getting bigger and greener with the growing Asia pivot.

A new programme providing support for innovative low-carbon projects to help increase their chances of finding investment has been launched by the British embassy in Hanoi, with a call for proposals open until January 15, 2023.