Thailand scales up climate ambition on land use and agriculture with launch of the SCALA Programme

July 13, 2022

Participants gathered for a photo opportunity at the inception workshop of the Scaling up Climate Ambition on Land Use and Agriculture Nationally Determined Contributions and National Adaptation Plans Program (SCALA) Programme in Thailand on 24 June 2022.

Bangkok, 24 June 2022 - The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MoAC), the Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE) and the Land Development Department (LDD) convened with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to organize an inception workshop of the Scaling up Climate Ambition on Land Use and Agriculture Nationally Determined Contributions and National Adaptation Plans Program (SCALA) Programme in Thailand on 24 June 2022.

Through the welcome and opening remarks by Ms. Sukanya Thongthumrong, the representative of the UNDP Thailand for the programme to be officially launched in Thailand. Ms. Sairak Chailanggar, the representative of the OAE, emphasized collaboration under the SCALA programme in Thailand and the objectives of the workshop, “This workshop aims as a learning platform and good opportunities for all of us from different agencies to discuss, brainstorm and participate to identify for the Thailand climate actions and to set the direction of the implementation SCALA Programme in Thailand together.”

The workshop brought together close to 50 participants representing different ministries and other government organizations, research organizations, private sector, academic institutions, and international development organizations.

The purpose of the inception workshop was to present the project to stakeholders and partners, and to identify and discuss the priority actions for the agriculture and land use sectors in Thailand for implementation under SCALA.

During the workshop, participants discussed the project objectives, the key priorities for the agriculture and land use sectors in Thailand and possible actions with transformative potential. While introducing the project, in his presentation, Mr. Beau Damen from FAO RAP emphasised, “That the identification of the transformative climate actions needs to be based on the local context, their responsiveness to the climate situations and the priorities of each county.”

SCALA aims to support countries to identify and implement priority climate actions under the agriculture and land use sector to achieve their NDC goals and targets to build resilience to the changing climate conditions.

Dr. Kannika Thampanichvong, Senior Research Fellow, Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) presented a situation analysis of climate change on the agriculture sector of the country. Dr. Thampanichvong said, “It is an imperative that Thailand identifies and implements climate actions soonest, because agriculture is a main income of 8.1 million households, and it is the basis for economic growth of the country, shared as 8.6% of the total country’s GDP.”

Through interactive sessions and series of discussions, the participants identified key actions, such as crop management, water resource management, soil and land management, livestock management, fishery management, wanning system development, research and technology development, food availability enhancement, and capacity development.

The results of the assessment will inform the next steps of country, which are related to the enhancement of research development, innovation, and technology in managing agriculture and land use activities responding to climate mitigation and adaptation.

The SCALA Programme will provide key areas of support, covering the aspects of technical support and capacity development, knowledge transferring, technology, and innovation guides, bridging the financing mechanisms, developing private sector engagement model.

All messages and outcomes of the workshop will be instrumental for the SCALA Programme in Thailand to identify of the appropriate interventions and modalities of implementation to help the country to achieve its NDC and NAP targets.

Scaling up Climate Ambition on Land Use and Agriculture Nationally Determined Contributions and National Adaptation Plans (SCALA) is a multi-year initiative funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) through its International Climate Initiative (IKI).

The programme is designed to support transformative climate action in the land use and agriculture sectors to reduce GHG emissions and/or enhance removals, as well as strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate change in participant countries.

The programme provides in-depth support to 12 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America from 2020-2025. The programme is being jointly implemented by the FAO and the UNDP.