Bangkok - The European Union (EU) needs to establish strong
cooperation with Asian countries over climate change in capacity building,
promotion of green fuel and technologies, information dissemination and research
on appropriate policy mechanisms. This was stated by Anders Wijkman, Member of
European Parliament, at a special lecture organized jointly by Stockholm
Environment Institute (SEI) and Chulalongkorn University 's Centre of European
Studies (CES) and MSc Programme in Environment and Natural Resources.
If the EU wishes to be a leader in this issue, “it has to reach
out to the rest of the world and catch major players such as USA , Australia ,
India and China ”, said Mr. Wijkman. “In addition, EU must focus both on climate
change adaptation and mitigation, and provide more support for research” Mr.
Wijkman continued.
Although the Kyoto Protocol has been ratified by a vast majority
of countries and, just early last year, entered into force after the latest
ratification by Russia; it remains a big task for all to reduce the carbon
emission to the target level during the current commitment period.
In Europe , only UK , Germany , France , and Sweden have actually
witnessed a reduction in carbon emission. In other countries, emissions are
still on the increase. Even successful countries managed to do so because of
better special circumstances; including the promotion of natural gas to replace
coal in the UK , and the closure of industries in Germany after reunification.
Dr. Charit Tingsabhad, Director, CES, gave an overview of the
situation in Thailand . Thailand has also ratified the Kyoto Protocol. Thailand
could benefit from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). There are a number of
potential CDM projects. A group of technical experts is also ready to work on
this. Additional support from other agencies is also provided especially from
the Danish Embassy which aims at capacity building. However, because so many
agencies are involved, it has been difficult to move to implementation. One
reason is the fact that the National Subcommittee on Climate Change (NCCC)
doesn't have proper authority to do the work.
Aspect of the leadership of EU to battle climate change, there are
plans to develop strategic partnership with countries like China , South Africa
, Brazil and India to assist them in developing sustainable energy strategies
and secure their participation in mitigation efforts. Concrete examples can be
seen in case of Africa where EU provided financial support for capacity building
as well as seeking for means to mitigate the impact of extreme natural
phenomena.
EU parliament realizes that to achieve the goals, all sectors in
the society must be involved in the process, especially citizens, to reduce
carbon emission. Therefore, “a system is to be developed in the near future on
what each sector should do in order to achieve the emission reduction target.
Correct information and right incentives for each sector must be provided
appropriately. It also requires us all to make our consumption pattern more
sustainable”, ended Mr. Wijkman.
Mr. Wijkman is reknowned expert on critical issues in sustainable
development, in particular climate change, disaster management, and brindging
science and policy. As a Euro MP, he focuses on energy, trade and industry. He
has long high profile in supporting development work such as being a former
assistant director of the Bureau for Policy and Program Support of UNDP,
director general of the Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation with Developing
Countries (SAREC), a member of the Swedish government's environmental council,
Secretary General of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, and President
of the International Red Cross Disaster Relief Commission and so on. He has
written books on disasters, development, the environment, and HIV/AIDS.
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