During the first week of October 2018, Thailand’s Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning hosted a summit in Bangkok. The objective of the summit was to implement strategies for meeting the Paris Agreement’s goals and for addressing the impacts of climate change. This summit was co-hosted by the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Global Network and it brought together adaptation experts from 16 developing countries to discuss their respective approaches on climate change adaptation. To reflect upon the summit, Mr. Raweewan Bhuridej, Secretary General of the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP), stated “As many countries are embarking on the NAP process, today’s workshop will provide a useful venue for participants to learn and benefit from one another about the challenges and opportunities faced when working through the NAP process in different countries”.

The summit looked specifically into the “opportunities for aligning countries’ National Adaptation Plan processes with the adaptation criteria, which have been included under the respective Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submitted under the UNFCCC”. The summit was supported by the “Government of Germany and partners in Bangkok” as a part of “Capacity Building and Knowledge Exchange Week on Accelerating the Implementation of the Paris Agreement”. To describe the summit deliberations about how climate change adaptation strategies are undertaken by Thailand and different countries, Tim Mahler, country director of GIZ Thailand mentioned “Even though the inclusion of adaptation in the NDCs was optional, the great majority of all NDCs mention adaptation needs and goals. It is crucial to create linkages between NDC implementation and NAP process”.

The summit in Bangkok included government representatives from countries like “Thailand, Vietnam, Togo, Uganda, Brazil, Jamaica, Morocco, Malawi, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Nepal, Ethiopia, Benin, Burkina Faso, and Colombia”. At the end of the workshops, Anne Hammill, Director of the NAP Global Network Secretariat mentioned about the great potentials of the summit by arguing, “Convening peers from different countries to share their experiences and learn from each other can build momentum for action. We hope that this week’s meetings help governments make progress towards the adaptation ambitions they have set out under the Paris agreement”.

To know more about the summit workshop please visit the NAP Global Network site at http://napglobalnetwork.org/2018/10/thailand-hosts-peer-learning-summit-on-climate-change-adaptation/

By hosting the summit, Thailand is moving towards the right direction with respect to the enhancement of climate change adaptation efforts. In Thailand’s context, the summit workshop is likely to boost the funding for adaptation projects and enhance the availability of energy friendly technologies. Finally, the summit allowed Thailand and the participant countries to share their experiences of adaptation projects. This in turn can help Thailand to learn from the experiences of other countries as well as assist the country in implementing effective adaptation measures. Therefore, the recent summit workshop is much more likely to assist Thailand in strengthening its INDC pledge under the Paris Agreement.

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Dr. Raweewan Bhuridej
Secretary General
Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning
60/1 Soi Pibulwatana 7, Rama VI Road,
Phayathai, Bangkok 10400 Thailand
Telephone: 0-2265-6506, Fax: 0-2265-6506
Email: rawewan@onep.go.th

Dr. Asadaporn Kraipanont
Deputy Secretary General
Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning
60/1 Soi Pibulwatana 7, Rama VI Road,
Phayathai, Bangkok 10400 Thailand
Telephone: 0-2265-6505, Fax: 0-2265-6506
Email: kasdaporn@gmail.com