Resident Coordinator's Remarks at the High-Level Thematic Debate of the President of the General Assembly

President Shahid,

Distinguished Delegates,

It is an honor to address you today in this “Moment for Nature” and share the UN Country Team’s experiences on engagement for sustainable finance in Thailand.

Our ongoing efforts are all the more relevant today, with rising inflation, high food and energy costs, and the widespread debt crisis. In this context, it is vital that the UN continues to provide integrated and practical support to promote sustainable financing for comprehensive action on the Rio Conventions.

Worldwide, the private and finance sectors have moved forward in their thinking on sustainability and environmental, social and governance principles, which are no longer viewed just as CSR factors, but as good business practices essential to the bottom line.

This is an important entry point for the UN to bring technical expertise and our convening power to best support Member States.

We have to identify and work with champions from the private sector, banks and investors, who are leading on sustainability. While mindful of green and blue washing, we must recognize that sustainability will only happen with the cooperation of these partners.

In Thailand, the national development plan is premised on the Bio-Circular Green economy prioritizing key areas such as renewable energy, EVs, biofuels and green construction as a path towards sustainable and high-value growth.

Regulators, including the Security and Exchange Commission and Bank of Thailand have shown foresight.

This is put in practice by the Bank of Thailand working on a taxonomy defining what qualifies as sustainable finance and what do we mean by “green”, which is fundamental to establishing a common basis for stability of investments.

It is important to note that regulators are not imposing top-down rules, but instead establishing the sustainable investment eco-system for the private sector, banks and investors to accelerate the green transition.

I also want to recognize the leadership that we are seeing from business, and in particular the Global Compact Network Thailand, which has provided a platform to engage comprehensively with the domestic private sector, including SMEs that make up so much of the value chain.

With most Global Compact members committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, business has supported more ambitious targets on the part of government as well. Starting last year, the private sector has reduced carbon emissions by 7 million tons annually, amounting to 2% of the country’s GHGs.

The Global Compact platform also enables us to reach across supply chains to SMEs, which face major challenges in the sustainability transformation. This is work in progress, where UN technical advice is facilitating the adoption of best available technology for reducing emissions.

To fulfill our commitment to leave no one behind, we need to move rapidly into this area for a green economic transformation.

ESG investment is continuing to mature in Thailand with the pipeline of sustainable projects growing.

Thai banks report, that ESG lending has enabled them to weather the pandemic better with net returns more sustainable and shareholders more confident.

There are champions in the finance sector with the Government Pension Fund and a couple of major banks leading on sustainability.

Working with these partners, the UN has used the Principles of Responsible Banking and Investment, as entry points, to bring together the finance sector and take the dialogue on sustainability forward.

At the Sustainable Thailand Forum co-hosted last year by the UN and Government, 43 financial institutions with total assets of $1.3 trillion committed to action on the SDGs and climate action.

It is essential that these joint efforts for sustainable finance are owned by the domestic markets, localizing the initiative and leadership.

In addition to the convening role, the UN brings technical expertise in areas such as carbon markets, risk-financing strategies with a focus on inclusive insurance, and SDG investor maps to identify investment priorities through local insights.

This is being led by agencies such as UNEP, UNDP, and UNIDO bringing integrated policy advice to sustainable finance.

In her recent visit to Thailand, Deputy Secretary-General met with the private sector and investors, advancing UN Thailand’s proposal for a SDG Pooled Funding Mechanism to unify our work and create the structural support for climate action.

Let me conclude with lessons that I am continuing to learn in our engagement:

First, champions are key. Trailblazing investments in green projects have knock-on effects as other banks and companies get on board. This enables us to connect and bring players in the financial markets together to accelerate sustainable financing.

Second, with the private sector, once best available clean technology is introduced, scaling up of these sustainable solutions happens rapidly and at their own initiative.

And third, the UN needs to ensure that the agenda of sustainable finance is owned and led locally by the private and finance sectors in country.

By building relationships of trust, and leveraging UN’s convening power, we can help accelerate that pace and the effectiveness of our joint work in the spirit of partnership.

Thank you for the opportunity to address you and consider good practices, as well as the key challenges that we must urgently address.