Remarks of Resident Coordinator Thailand for Policy Forum on Thailand's Sustainable Green Growth

I am delighted to be co-hosting this important Forum on Thailand’s Sustainable Green Growth with the Bank of Thailand and the Puey Ungphakorn Institute for Economic Research, and to be joining policymakers, leading researchers, the private sector, and UN colleagues here today.

I would also like to thank Khun Mathee, the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Thailand, and Khun Krislert, the Director of PIER, for the opportunity to collaborate on this critical topic as Sustainable Green Growth is essential to Thailand’s overall development trajectory through and beyond the recovery from COVID19.

Thailand’s vision of being a high value-added, sustainable, and green economy is set out in the draft 13 NESDP, which defines the transformative development pathway for the country over the coming five years.

The draft plan also identifies six sectors that Thailand will prioritize which will directly contribute to creation of greener jobs. One such example is the early transformation of the Thai automotive industry into electric vehicles. The benefits are twofold – the country’s production capacity and competitiveness will be improved, ensuring new green employment, and reducing the country’s emissions and greenhouse gases.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to begin my remarks by setting out the sustainability context. Next, I want to highlight the opportunity we have in ‘green multipliers’ spurring economic growth. And to conclude, I would like to outline how sustainability is a source of growth.

To my first point in setting the sustainability scene, business leaders see that climate change is no longer a distant threat. According to Deloitte’s Global Survey conducted earlier this year, 80% expressed concern about climate change with 30% saying that they already felt the impact of climate-related disasters to their business. Simply put, the majority acknowledged that the world was at a tipping point, to act to mitigate the consequences of climate change.

At the same time, two-thirds of businesses reported that they need to cut back on sustainability efforts in response to the pandemic and economic downturn. This is precisely why it is so critical to create an enabling environment for a green economy.

Another indicator that the world is ready for change is the tripling of membership over the past seven months in the Net Zero Asset Owners Alliance convened by the UN.

The Alliance now has 37 members who are committed to transition their investment portfolio so that attributable greenhouse gas emissions will be net zero by 2050.

A sister initiative, the Net Zero Banking Alliance, which is also convened by the UN, was launched last month with 43 of the world’s leading banks. And we are sure to see more investors and banks joining this alliance.

In the Asia-Pacific, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea also made net zero announcements in the fourth quarter of 2020.

More recently, the U.S. hosted the Leaders’ Summit on Climate in April.

With some countries and actors accelerating their sustainability efforts, while others pulling back, we expect to see a greater gap between the leaders and the laggards.

Now, I would like to turn to my next point on green multipliers for the economy, which have proven to be great motivators for world leaders.

Environmental spending has traditionally been seen as a cost burden to the economy, but many governments are now seeing green spending in terms of green multipliers.

A recently published IMF Paper estimates green multipliers to be about 2 to 7 times larger than conventional multipliers.

At the Leader’s Summit on Climate, a key and recurring theme was that tackling climate change creates jobs and strengthens economies.

This is also important in the current context of building back better. The Republic of Korea’s Green New Deal launched in July 2020 is a key pillar of its national COVID recovery plan and national transformation strategy.

The 750-billion EU recovery package directs four out of ten Euros towards green initiatives. This ambitious target builds upon the success of the earlier green stimulus during the 2008 financial crisis.

To my last point on sustainability as a source of future growth, acceleration of actions to promote and reinforce sustainability are long term and continuing, lasting through and beyond the COVID recovery.

ILO estimates that 24 million new jobs will be created globally by 2030 if the right policies are in place.

China adopted a policy mandating that 40% of all vehicles sold in the country will be electric by 2030.

Similarly, as already mentioned, Thailand’s draft 13th NESDP prioritizes the production of electric vehicles over the next five years as an opportunity to create green jobs and reduce greenhouse emissions.

The UN is supporting the Government by doing chemical fingerprinting to analyze air pollution patterns. To deepen our contributions in this area, we are also working on a short term secondment of a Bank of Thailand expert to the UN who will analyze the macro-economic costs and benefits of air pollution mitigation interventions.

Green policy implementation is not limited to Governments. Major Fortune 500 companies also getting on board. Apple recently adopted a corporate policy plan last year to become carbon neutral across its entire business, including its manufacturing supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030.

229 banks from around the world, representing 40% of the global banking industry, have signed up to the UN Principles of Responsible Banking. Many of these banks are adding value to their lending, by including sustainability advisories for clients.  

In Thailand last year, 22% of banks signed up to the UN Principles of Responsible Banking, and we hope to grow that number this year in partnership with the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Thailand.

What we are seeing is just the beginning of an era of major transition. This is not just about the growth of new green sectors, but more importantly a major change in the relationship between our economic activities and nature.

For this, human capital, including knowledge and expertise in a wide range of sustainability areas from science to economics, needs to develop at an accelerated pace.

Thailand’s development plans recognize sustainability as a key source of growth for the country. This reflects a solid commitment that requires matching implementation.

I trust that today’s Forum is one of many cross-sectoral collaborations that informs policymakers to design effective economic policies supporting a sustainable COVID recovery as well as long-term growth and prosperity for Thailand.

I look forward to the impactful discussions today. Thank you.