Thailand’s climate change law should be fortified before it is enacted

Thailand looks set to implement an unprecedented Climate Change Act this year. Though the Thai government has long ignored climate change problems and even launched lawsuits against environmental activists, approval of this Act could represent an important milestone, albeit one that would require fortified legislation and strengthened institutions to become truly effective. 

Climate change driven by human-created greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has increasingly caused environmental devastation, including intense droughts, flooding, and declining biodiversity. Such damage in Thailand has reduced agricultural productivity, particularly in the growing of staple crops, thus threatening the livelihoods of Thai farmers and exacerbating rural poverty and the country’s food insecurity. Climate-change-affected marine ecosystems have undermined Thai coastal communities dependent on fisheries for income. Ultimately, the Global Climate Risk Index ranked Thailand as the ninth most affected country in 2021.

Public concern towards these expanding climate change hazards has intensified, propelled by media attention, public activism, and demands for more state action from political parties. As a result, climate discourse has emerged in Thai politics. In 2011, the state devised a Climate Change Master Plan 2015 to 2050 in response to public pressure.

Still, institutional and political economy constraints have limited the effectiveness of Thailand’s climate action. The country’s notoriously fragmented, politicised, and lethargic bureaucracy has shown its incapacity to address climate change problems.

Powerful industries or companies with vested interests have also pushed against climate action. Allegations of government foot-dragging on climate protections to benefit big businesses underscore the view that economic powerhouses hold sway over the state. Despite climate change-related policies appearing on the election manifestos of various political parties in the ruling coalition, many have not been implemented. Furthermore, while the government publicly supports renewable energy, it plans to draw 25 per cent of the country’s energy from coal – which comprises 44 per cent of global CO₂ emissions – until 2036.  

When the Pheu Thai-led government took office in the wake of the May 2023 election, climate change-related reforms were again popular among voters. Thailand’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment eventually opened debate within parliament on a Climate Change Act to establish effective mechanisms for addressing climate change.

The hearings led to a series of proposals which were meant to be incorporated into the bill. However, flaws in key proposals, compounded by bureaucratic constraints and vested interests, threaten to compromise effective implementation of this legislation.

One of the most important proposals concerned a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), modelled after a European Union mechanism. Thailand’s CBAM similarly would put a carbon price on imported goods for emissions exceeding specific thresholds. Importers would report emissions associated with their imports and purchase carbon adjustment certificates corresponding to the emissions. Importers could apply for deductions, and the implementation would be phased in gradually. The CBAM would also maintain a registry of each business’s product emission intensity, and could penalise companies that shift production from Thailand to countries with weaker environmental regulations. Although powerful businesses that flout this law could face severe fines, the CBAM was criticised for relying on the under-resourced bureaucracy to monitor compliance and enforce the rules.

Second, the bill proposed the creation of an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and enhanced carbon tax provisions. Both were carbon-pricing tools designed to reduce GHG emissions. These initiatives sought to diminish carbon leakage (when carbon emissions in one region/country increase emissions elsewhere), encourage lower GHG emissions, and promote fairer competition within the domestic market. The carbon tax is designed to encourage a transition from using fossil fuels to renewable or low-carbon fuels.

Nevertheless, the government provided insufficient details on the ETS and carbon tax, especially regarding their effects on business costs and the lack of standardised rules and procedures. Furthermore, Thailand’s use of renewable energy is only 7.1 per cent of the total while 70 per cent of electricity generation comes from fossil fuels; a transfer to using mostly renewable energy would be highly “challenging”. Non-renewable energy, dominated by big business, is still dominant.

Third, the bill would establish a Climate Fund to support business innovation in emissions reduction, climate adaptation projects, and associated research to enhance Thailand’s competitiveness as a low-carbon economy. However, some business groups and law firms have expressed concerns that the Ministry of Finance’s bureaucratic red tape may encumber the creation of the fund.

The Climate Change bill will follow the Thai legislative process. After it is debated and if the National Assembly approves the bill, which is widely expected by 2025, the Council of State will review its constitutionality. The prime minister will then submit the approved bill to the monarch for his signature, after which it becomes law. This process is expected to be completed in 2026, with enforcement beginning in 2027.  

The problems in this bill call for revisions and supplements. These include greater clarity for climate targets and obligations for businesses; the required use of renewable energy; the effective enforcement of penalties, especially against powerful business interests seeking to tamper with state climate change policies; an expansion of the Climate Fund; and greater oversight by civil society to replace inefficient bureaucratic control.

The impending passage of Thailand’s first climate change law represents a new but frail gesture addressing a complex problem. To be more effective in addressing climate change, the cabinet and concerned ministries should improve upon the Act with wording and related bureaucratic regulations aimed at strengthening it. Climate change legislation has been a response to public consciousness, but the pressures must be sustained across all of Thailand’s government and society for this legislative landmark to live up to its mandate.

Paul Chambers is Visiting Fellow at ISEAS, the German-Southeast Asian Center of Excellence for Public Policy and Good Governance, and the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace. He is also the executive editor of the Taylor & Francis (SCOPUS) journal Asian Affairs: an American Review.

Watcharapol Supajakwattana is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Naresuan University, Thailand.

This article was first published in Fulcrum, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute’s blogsite.