On 30 September, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Thailand Office, in collaboration with the Creative Urban Solution Center (CUSC), organised a seminar under the project “Enhancing Understanding of the Draft Clean Air Act and Role of Citizens in Accessing Environmental Justice (Phase 2)” in Mae Hong Son Province.
Based on the seminar, the draft Clean Air Act focuses on:
🔹 Recognising clean air as a fundamental right, meaning that the state has a duty to ensure and protect people’s access to clean air, and also gives citizens greater opportunities to participate in decision-making processes.
🔹 Taking a systematic approach to tackling air pollution through cooperation and information sharing among all sectors. This includes establishing mechanisms at the national, provincial, and academic levels to address pollution from various sources and allow each area to develop approaches suited to its own context.
🔹 Combining penalties and incentives to drive change, including legal measures such as fines and other penalties according to Polluter Pays Principle (PPP), as well as economic measures such as funds or tax incentives for businesses that reduce their emissions. These measures aim to encourage reductions in particulate matter and other forms of pollution.
👥 💬 Throughout the activity, young generation, community leaders, representatives of ethnic communities and local government officials came together to exchange their views on the draft and share environmental challenges based on their experiences in Mae Hong Son, contributing to the development of proposals, approaches and local action plans to address environmental challenges more effectively.
