Articles
Global Climate Finance Under Threat: What U.S. Aid Cuts Could Mean for Thailand
The Trump administration’s recent decision to rescind $4 billion in U.S. pledges to the United Nations’ Green Climate Fund (GCF) has sent shockwaves through the global climate finance community. This move, coupled with significant cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), threatens to reduce global climate finance by nearly 10%, a substantial setback […]
Unlocking Asean’s grid for green growth
Thailand is taking a significant step towards renewable energy, targeting half of its electricity generation from renewable sources by 2037 under the recently drafted Power Development Plan 2024 (PDP2024). However, achieving this goal is dependent on the Asean Power Grid, a region-wide initiative first proposed in 1997 to interconnect the electricity infrastructures of Asean member […]
Transition-finance for a green economy
For those who advocate for more timely and meaningful climate finance commensurate with the increasingly cataclysmic impact of climate change, the year 2025 seems to begin on a rocky start. Early last month, 11 large US and Canadian banks exited the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), the UN-backed coalition of banks that claim their dedication […]
Sun-powered schools are a smart move
Thailand’s rising electricity costs are not just a concern for businesses; they are placing a financial burden on schools. In 2023, a local business daily, Bangkok Biz, reported that many schools were struggling with high electricity liabilities. For example, Mahidol Wittayanusorn School, located on the Salaya Campus of Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom province, faces […]
Role of banks in climate change future
On Jan 10, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced that 2024 was the warmest year on record, likely the first year with a global mean temperature of more than 1C above the 1850-1900 average. Despite the alarming fact, the year 2025 is not off to a good start. The same week that WMO made that […]
Learning from the Green Bond Experience: Successes and Pitfalls
Article by: Thanakon Sukuman Green bonds have become a powerful financial instrument in the global fight against climate change, yet not all deliver on their promises. Despite global green bond issuance reaching a record $269.5 billion in 2020, concerns over greenwashing—where financial instruments claim environmental benefits without real impact—continue to grow. Understanding the difference between […]
Can new bonds mitigate disaster losses?
Last year turned out to be one of the most expensive on record in terms of insurance payments resulting from natural disasters. In 2024, financial claims made to insurance companies reached copy40 billion, the third most expensive year for insurers in the last four decades, according to Munich Re’s report, titled “Climate change is showing […]
Farms and solar energy can co-exist
At first glance, the idea of combining agriculture with solar energy seems far-fetched. How can crops and solar panels compete for the same sunlight? My view changed after I visited the Sosa Mega Solar Sharing site in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, last month. As part of a media tour organised by Mekong Watch, a Japanese non-profit […]
Bridging Thailand’s climate adaptation finance gap
By many accounts, Thailand consistently ranks among the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change. The oft-cited Global Climate Risk Index by GermanWatch ranked Thailand’s long-term climate risk in 2021 as 9th in the world. Thailand is one of the 10 most flood-affected countries in the world, and the risks it faces are […]