Resident Coordinator's Remarks for Advancing Mitigation through Integrated Planning on Climate and Clean Air

Distinguished experts, colleagues, and friends.

I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak to one of the most pressing issues that face us in Thailand, the region, and the world.

Air pollution is an existential threat as it impacts the climate, environment, and human health alike. Short-lived climate pollutants, including black carbon, a component of PM2.5, and methane, drive up to 45% of global warming.  

In Thailand as elsewhere, the main causes of air pollution vary by region and location. They include a wide range of sources from heavy industries, fossil fuel-powered plants to construction sites and vehicle emissions.

A particularly serious problem in this region is the seasonal burning of agricultural crop residues, as we saw earlier this year.

Such open burning of biomass is a significant contributor to carbon emissions, and it can lead to forest fires, jeopardizing fragile ecosystems.  

The health impacts are just as significant. Each year some 30,000 people in Thailand die of causes directly attributable to prolonged exposure to air pollution.

This year alone between January and March tens of thousands of people suffered air pollution-related illnesses in Chiang Mai and other provinces.

In the north where the practice is more common and compounded by forest fires, there has been a higher rate of lung cancer and complications in women’s maternal health than in the south.

The social costs caused by PM2.5 amount to an estimated $63 billion each year. This cost will only rise unless decisive actions are taken.

I have visited several provinces where rice is the main crop for many smallholders.

Farmers tell me they burn crop residues because they lacked the financial means to adopt technologies to prepare their plots in time for the next planting season.

Farmers in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia engage in the same practice out of similar necessity, yet airborne pollutants know no borders, which means that eliminating this practice will require cross-border collaboration.

All of us, including the governments, academia, private sector, and civil society, will need to work towards finding sustainable and market-oriented solutions in the context of South-South Triangular Cooperation.

These solutions will need to be tailored to the needs of farmers without burdening them with additional costs.

We at the UN are working with our partners in Thailand on effective ways to reduce crop burning and other sources of air pollution.

Allow me to highlight four of them.

One, the UN is generating the evidence base for science-based solutions.

ESCAP is analyzing satellite imagery to understand the patterns of biomass burning and other sources of hazardous smoke.

ESCAP also analyzes the contribution of specific crops to air pollution using chemical fingerprinting of smoke.

With this in-depth analysis we can better track crop burning and locate its exact geographic position while mapping weather patterns to predict the movement of smoke across the country and the region.

Due to the different sources of air pollution, solutions will need to be tailored to suit specific circumstances, including farmlands, crops, regions, and areas.

For example, in northeastern Thailand we need to take into account the region’s limited water supplies as we work on locally tailored solutions.

Two, the UN, led by FAO, UNDP and UNEP, leverages science towards introducing climate-smart farming practices and technologies.

For instance, deep ploughing can be used to dispose of leftover rice stalks. Once buried this way into the soil, they decompose into nutrients.

Another method involves cost-effective decomposers that can break down organic materials within a couple of weeks.

A third sustainable practice involves using agricultural biomass for mulching.

Three, the UN is building technical capacities across Thailand and the region to analyze, and create data banks to support policymakers.

We are increasing the number of air quality monitoring stations around the country.

We are also providing technical support to build capacities to access and utilize satellite and atmospheric data and applications for air pollution monitoring and management.

As part of this process, UN is supporting cities, including Chiang Mai and Nakhon Ratchasima, to develop science-based action plans to address local sources of air pollution.

Cities can better address challenges to their air quality when they have both the capacity to gather relevant data and the tools to enact scientifically sound solutions.

It has also been found that machine-learning technology can be used to support decision-making to improve air quality.

Four, the UN leverages its convening power to co-create platforms for dialogues with the private sector to scale up market-led solutions.

We know from experience that once best practices and the latest available technologies are introduced, the sector is quick to adopt and scale them up of its own accord.

The UN is in dialogue with the rice, sugarcane, and maize producers through the Global Compact Network Thailand to create the right incentives for farmers to move away from burning, organize smallholders to share resources using harvesters and other machinery, and leverage technology in support of biomass electricity and biofuels.

Today’s conference serves as an important platform to take this agenda forward in Thailand and across the region.

I am very much looking forward to all the expert insights as we continue working towards cleaning up our air and saving our planet from further warming.

Thank you.