Resident Coordinator’s Remarks at 4th GCNT Forum “Partnership for Human Capital 5.0 towards Intelligence-Based Society”

Your Excellency Deputy Prime Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara,

Khun Supachai, Chairman of the Global Compact Network Thailand (GCNT),

Business leaders, and UN colleagues.

It is my pleasure to welcome you to our fourth annual forum, which brings together business leaders, policymakers, and the UN.

Your Excellency Deputy Prime Minister, it is an honor to have you with us as we accelerate green growth in line with the government’s Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) vision.

Deepening our partnerships is critical in today’s complex geopolitical context as we also grapple with the climate crisis.

Your government’s commitment to the SDGs provides a much-needed impetus for the GCNT, under the leadership of Khun Supachai, to step up its ambition to fast-track the 5.0 high-value economy.  

A key pillar of the green transformation rests on human capital development. Analysis tells us that investing in it will generate higher rates of return and enable Thailand to take a leading role on circularity.

Today’s forum seeks to further that cause under the leadership of the private sector.

The GCNT’s commitments thus far have been at scale, including a pledge of over $46 billion to accelerate SDGs, achieve carbon neutrality by mid-century and support the protection of a third of land and marine areas nationwide.    

Allow me to speak to 3 themes central to the 5.0 transformation.

First, scaling up investment in human capital through reskilling, upskilling and digital development for a dynamic labor market.

The government is leveraging the soft power of Thailand’s creative industries, which can drive the country further onto the global stage through a highly skilled labor force. Having 20 million people reskilled - at least one person in each family - will create a multiplier effect.

Creating green jobs is an integral part of this. UN analysis suggests that growing demand for these jobs is being met with a shortage of skilled workers.

This effect is especially acute in construction, wholesale, retail, transportation, and storage, adding to the challenges. As the economy fast-tracks this transition, demand for green skills will increase further in renewables, smart agriculture, and recycling.  

Bridging the skill gaps requires a dual strategy – starting from the bottom up together with top-down policies while leveraging migrant labour as a building block for sustainable human capital.

A 5.0 workforce will necessitate a comprehensive plan for human capital development to align upskilling with national priorities, including the BCG. The UN stands ready to work with government and private sector to identify the skillsets required for this transition.  

Your Excellency, at the APEC summit the Prime Minister stated Thailand’s ambition to become a global hub for commerce, transport, carbon capture and storage, which will demand a fit-for-purpose workforce to make this a success.

Building these skillsets will need to start with education reform to integrate green and digital learning into curricula while offering comprehensive vocational and lifelong learning opportunities. Substantial investments in STEM, for both boys and girls, will be crucial for fostering an innovative workforce. 

Second, investing in deep decarbonization through green technologies will support emission reductions. 

The GCNT has been spearheading this green transition with its commitments resulting in reductions of nearly 2% of GHG emissions annually.

Similar reductions are taking place in heavily polluting industries such as aluminum, steel, and lead by introducing best available technologies through scrap-processing smelters, regenerative furnaces, and carbon-absorbing solvents. 

The private sector has been quick to scale up these technologies as they impact bottom lines positively while reducing carbon footprints.

Similarly, the adoption of resource efficient and cleaner production methods supports major gains by decreasing industrial waste, water use, raw materials, and energy. 

For example, in the rubber industry, reprocessing and recycling have secured energy savings by replacing liquefied petroleum with biogas. A floating solar farm treats wastewater and generates electricity for an industrial park.

Similar transformations are needed in the construction industry in the face of an expected boom. It will be critical to scale up low-carbon materials, specifically steel and cement, and retrofit buildings to reduce their environment footprint.

Your Excellency, this UN building is carbon neutral and serves as an example.

Third, the green transformation will require sustainable financing.

In consultations with bankers and investors, I have learned of several quick wins that can accelerate sustainable finance. This involves increasing the supply of green bonds to unlock additional climate financing.

Your Excellency, the government’s decision to issue $2 billion worth of sustainability-linked bonds in record time addresses this very gap.

Such bonds will allow investors to meet their ESG targets and remain globally competitive. The UN’s technical expertise in identifying KPIs for these bonds can add value to your efforts.

As part of sustainable financing, we are leveraging carbon markets in partnership with the private sector to generate over a million tons of carbon credits for local communities and vulnerable people, making them stakeholders of the green transition.

In our dialogues with the private sector a recurring theme emerges: the importance of instilling sustainability into the mindsets of people nationwide to embrace green pathways.  

Encouragingly, more and more young people aspire to have careers to make positive impacts on the environment and foster social justice. We need to harness this can-do spirit.

Your Excellency, today’s forum is an example of Thailand’s leadership among emerging economies in how to take the green transition forward equitably.

It’s an opportunity to showcase the truly transformative changes we can achieve when we all work closely together for accelerating the SDGs.

Thank you.