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The world is facing a climate emergency and humanity stands at a critical juncture on the road to combat the adverse effects of climate change. The impacts of climate change are disrupting national economies and affecting livelihoods, water, energy, transportation, agriculture and ecosystems at an unprecedented scale.  

According to the Global Climate Risk Index (2020), Thailand ranks the 8th most impacted country by extreme weather events from 1999-2018 and lost US$7.764 billion due to extreme weather events in the same period. In addition, Thailand stands to lose US$300 – 420 million (9.8 to 13.9 billion Thai Baht) and up to 15% of yields of major crops by 2050 due to prolonged droughts and unpredictable monsoon rain patterns, which can be linked to climate change. While greenhouse gas emissions represent less than 1% of global emissions, Thailand is still the 20th largest emitter in the world according to 2016 CAIT data.

The climate emergency has been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating impact that includes further escalating inequalities between men and women and between the haves and have nots. It is the poor and most vulnerable who are suffering the most from the negative impacts of both climate change and COVID-19. Like in the case of COVID-19 and other complex crises, to address the climate emergency, a whole-of-society approach is needed in every country; collective efforts and solidarity from all of us to transform all spheres of life and economy and shift the thinking and behaviour from “business as usual” to a more participatory and inclusive approach that leaves no one behind.  

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with presence in over 177 countries and territories, is one of the UN leading agencies providing long term comprehensive support to partner countries to scale up climate solutions and enhance inclusive climate action. UNDP also partners with more than 60 national parliaments worldwide, as the world’s largest parliamentary development provider assisting parliaments, legislatures and civic groups in their roles to supporting the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are vital means for countries to deliver on the promises made in the Paris Agreement and the overall United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

(UNFCCC). To help countries to commit to and implement increasingly ambitious NDCs UNDP developed the Climate Promise initiative under which 120 countries are supported to enhance their NDCs.

In the governance structure of Thailand, the National Assembly plays a critical role in the overall accountability framework. Parliament is indeed entrusted by the Constitution with the crucial roles of making laws and holding government to account. Thus it has a critical role to play in reviewing, and approving into law, the state budget proposal and in holding the government accountable for how public funds are spent. Since it represents the general population and their interests, parliament has the responsibility to ensure public spending is transparent and effective in producing outcomes for those most in need. Parliament has the opportunity to also specifically contribute to enhancing the transparent flow of information and analysis of how climate finance is allocated and how effectively it is spent.   

Parliamentarians have a mandate to oversee the action of the spending agencies and are well-positioned to advocate for accelerated action and policy change, particularly through the budget process. They can also raise questions on whether funds allocated in the budget are adequate to adapt to climate change impacts for achieving the goal of a sustainable development path for the country. They can, directly and indirectly, influence the content of the budget to encourage more resources and incentives for addressing climate change. As elected members who represent the needs of their constituencies, they can advocate for more effective and targeted budget allocations, for climate-vulnerable areas and populations.

In 2020, UNDP formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Secretariat of the House of Representatives of Thailand to enhance awareness and capacities of parliamentarians and parliament staff to play a significant role in implementing the SDGs (SDGs) in Thailand and achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In addition, UNDP has partnered with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung to support parliamentarians and parliamentary staff to gain more knowledge on the SDGs. Climate Change is one of the key priorities that the Thai Parliament aim to pursue as part of the Green Parliament Agenda. To present a strong commitment towards inclusive climate action and commemorate COP26, the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties in Glasgow on 31 October-12 November 2021, UNDP, the Secretariat of the House of Representatives, and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) and will organise a virtual Climate Change Forum and Workshop on “Fostering Climate Ambition and Inclusive Climate Action: the Role of the Parliament” on 12 November 2021.   The main purpose of the event is to invite parliamentarians and climate change-related personnel from various sectors to share their progress on climate action, inspire collective climate ambitions and enhance the knowledge of parliamentary staff to better support parliamentarians and Parliament’s work on Climate Change going forward. 

1)    Increase awareness of the role that Parliaments can play in fighting climate change, increasing the ambition on and meeting Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)
2)    Exchange knowledge amongst parliamentarians and other stakeholders/bodies to apply the Climate Change/ Climate Action into their roles and functions to achieve the Global Goals and national sustainable development objectives
3)    Enhance the knowledge of parliamentary staff to effectively support the Thai Parliament on Climate Change action and implementation of the SDGs.