Rich nations fail as Thailand meets its emissions target

By PRATCH RUJIVANAROM 
THE NATION

 

Photo credit: CC0

 

IEA outlook still worrisome as global greenhouse gas production shows 0.5 per cent increase this year.

 

 

THE EMISSION of greenhouse gases has been rising for two years in a row, reversing efforts based on the Paris Agreement to control the rise in global temperatures and avert the impact of climate change.

 

As world leaders gather at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP24) in Katowice, Poland, to find solutions, the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Tuesday released a preliminary outlook for this year’s energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. It worryingly indicates that there has been a 0.5 per cent rise in global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions this year compared to previous years. 

 

The IEA report points out that energy-related CO2 emissions from wealthy countries in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific regions has grown this year due to a higher consumption of oil and natural gas. 

 

Not only are rich nations releasing more greenhouse gases this year, the IEA also says that emerging economies will emit more CO2, as the demand for fossil fuel is rising in line with the large numbers of coal-fired power plants being built. 

 

Even though the increase in CO2 emissions is small compared to last year, 2018 will be the second year in a row to witness an increasing trend of greenhouse gases – a great setback for the mission to achieve climate-change stabilisation as per the Paris Agreement. 

 

“Our data shows that despite a strong growth in solar and wind energy, emissions have started to rise again in advanced economies, highlighting the need for deploying technologies for energy efficiency,” Fatih Birol, IEA’s executive director, said. 

 

More work needed

 

“This turnaround should be another warning to governments as they meet in Katowice this week. Increased efforts are needed to encourage more renewables, greater energy efficiency, more nuclear and more innovation for technologies such as carbon capture, utilisation and storage and hydrogen, for instance.”

 

Emissions in Thailand have also been higher this year, with the energy sector having released 196.5 tonnes of CO2 in the first nine months of this year, marking a 0.98 per cent increase compared to the same period last year, the Energy Policy and Planning Office (EPPO) said.

 

However, EPPO said that even though the power-generation sector is the largest CO2 producer, it is the only sector that is releasing a lower amount of greenhouse gases due to an increase in renewable energy, though the emission trend in other sectors is rising. 

 

 

Pledge met so far

 

Meanwhile, Raweewon Bhuridej, secretary-general of the Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning Office, said this increase in emissions will not affect Thailand’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). Thailand has pledged to lower its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 to 25 per cent by 2030 from the estimated emission rate in a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario.

 

“Since Thailand is a developing country, we do not have to lower our emission rate as significantly as wealthy nations, who ought to cut down their net CO2 emission rate every year,” Raweewon said.

 

She added that Thailand has already performed well as per standards set for developing countries. In 2016, Thailand successfully cut its emissions by 45.72 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, which is approximately 12 per cent below the estimated rate in a BAU scenario. 

 

Raweewon pointed out that thanks to this positive reduction effort, Thailand has already achieved its Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action, in which the country pledged to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 7 to 20 per cent within 2020.

 

“However, despite us having done great work in reducing emissions in Thailand’s energy sector, there is still room for improvement in order to transform the country into a low-carbon society,” she said. “For instance, the government is investing in a mass transportation network so as to encourage people to use public transport instead of driving, in a move to lower emissions in the transportation and logistics sector.” 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30359964

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-12-07

1 hour ago, webfact said:

She added that Thailand has already performed well as per standards set for developing countries.

Meaningless. 

 

Each nation’s basic estimate of its emissions comes from self-reported national statistics, many derived from statistical estimates of energy production and consumption.

 

We know how accurate and honest Thais tend to be. 

How about Thailand's agricultural sector?

Thailand leading the way .yet again...Denial is their biggest hurdle..

17 minutes ago, SoilSpoil said:

How about Thailand's agricultural sector?

If only they could stop those buffalo's from farting the results would look even better!

18 minutes ago, SoilSpoil said:

How about Thailand's agricultural sector?

Control, manipulated and suppressed?

 

The trouble with being a compulsive liar is that nobody will ever believe you again, even if some day you are telling the truth. 

Now all they have to do is clean up the plastic bags and they will have a double whammy.

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Rich nations fail as Thailand meets its emissions target

Probably using the same stroke of ingenuity they've used to eliminate the dumping of plastic bottles in landfill sites

Thailand has a long way to go before it can get all pious on the environment...blimey.

There we go again ..1st response..."negative"...to a positive story???

 "Negativity"...first out of the traps ever time.

  

 

25 minutes ago, dotpoom said:

There we go again ..1st response..."negative"...to a positive story???

 "Negativity"...first out of the traps ever time.

  

Do you understand that stories are just words? What makes many thinking people distrust Thai stories is evidence from decades of seeing these stories bear no relation to reality. 

30 minutes ago, dotpoom said:

There we go again ..1st response..."negative"...to a positive story???

 "Negativity"...first out of the traps ever time.

  

You’re adorable.

46 minutes ago, dotpoom said:

There we go again ..1st response..."negative"...to a positive story???

 "Negativity"...first out of the traps ever time.

  

Its called scepticism, aka critical thinking.

Come here to Rayong and you will see the factories spewing  more crap that you could never imagine into the air on a daily basis. I have never had health problems in my entire life until I came here. I have had many respiratory issues including pneumonia several times which I never had before.

Thais don’t care about pollution or conservation until it’s obvious and in their backyard. Furthermore, how can we expect them to change when the leader of the free world puts climate change down to a Chinese conspiracy theory and by inference to make wealthy countries less competitive?

But still Thailand is 5th largest users of plastics in the world.

If people stop throwing trash in the ocean, Thailand will have accomplished something.  While Thailand still puts filth in the ocean, forgive me if I remain unimpressed.  

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Rich nations fail as Thailand meets its emissions target

The ocean, beaches, and landscapes are choked with plastics of all kinds and other assorted garbage. Every day Thais burn unwanted trash which includes plastics, old batteries, and mounds of bio-waste. Air quality is like Tokyo in the 60's. Tap water isn't fit to drink and sewage designs are primitive and ineffective. The bar must be very low to meet any sort of emissions target and how can Thailand compare themselves against any other country? 

 

58 minutes ago, kannot said:

 

This guy must have bought his qualifications to come up with these conclusions. 

I thought even the weakest minds, by now, understand wood is renewable and coal is not.

Nuclear is viable yet he just dismisses it without any reasoning.

Wind and solar are making a massive CO2 saving which he is blinded to.

If you reduce poverty CO2 emissions will rise as well and I doubt someone with an annual income of $5000 would care about global emissions.

Maybe he went on to give solutions but it looked like he was saying it's too big a problem so why bother doing anything. 

I pity those students who may be going away with a defeatist attitude after listening to him.

There are many false hopes out there such as hydrogen, electric vehicles and biomass schemes involving grants paid back with savings, but also there are some very worthwhile projects. 

As for my ideas - cut world population dramatically ASAP. Impossible I know but stopping all aid to countries with growing populations would be a start. Less controversial, add the CO2 emissions produced making all the goods imported by a country to that countries total instead of blaming it on the exporter. I heard a theory that the UK steel industry was left to fail as it would improve the UK's emissions total. So instead of promoting cleaner steel production it encourages China to carry on using dirty production methods as they have a near monopoly.

Trump is also a massive problem that informed governments should be sorting out.

2 minutes ago, chang1 said:

Nuclear is viable yet he just dismisses it without any reasoning.

Thank god for that.

20 minutes ago, NextStationBangkok said:

But still Thailand is 5th largest users of plastics in the world.

And who is importing a lot of it? I doubt it would be fifth if you did not include plastic that gets exported.

11 minutes ago, Vacuum said:

Thank god for that.

Have a look at how many people die prematurely from burning coal and compare it to how many nuclear power plants kill. 

 

Here is the first google result -

 

However, the burning of coal for electricity is profoundly damaging to human health. Coal is responsible for over 800,000 premature deaths per year globally and many millions more serious and minor illnesses. In China alone, around 670,000 people die prematurely per year as a result of coal-related air pollution.

 

Thank God for that?

Edited December 7, 20187 yr by chang1

5 hours ago, webfact said:

with the energy sector having released 196.5 tonnes of CO2 in the first nine months of this year,

If only that was possible.

9 minutes ago, chang1 said:

Have a look at how many people die prematurely from burning coal and compare it to how many nuclear power plants kill. 

Yes, but this is about Thailand where they even can't make the electric system work without disruptions or fire hazards. Imagine if they had a couple of nuclear plants, disaster would follow.

Global greenhouse gas emissions are up 0.5%.

 

Thailand's greenhouse gas emissions are up 0.98%

 

Yet they manage to put a positive spin on this. Well done!

what a load of rubbish!

all you need to do is spend a few minutes on the road to show you the filth that comes out of the pick ups and lorries here.

dont get me started on the tuk tuks.

absolute codswallop

3 minutes ago, Vacuum said:

Yes, but this is about Thailand where they even can't make the electric system work without disruptions or fire hazards. Imagine if they had a couple of nuclear plants, disaster would follow.

Even the UK doesn't have the engineers with the ability to build a nuclear power plant now, yet we still idolise people who have arts degrees and work in offices who can't even change a plug. 

Until people with some engineering expertise are put in positions of power and shown respect little is going to improve.

2 hours ago, LazySlipper said:

Now all they have to do is clean up the plastic bags and they will have a double whammy.

That's coming next week, after a few big stores have stopped doling out plastic bags (for one day) that is definitely on the cards!