War puts Thailand's near-term carbon-neutral targets on the backburner

Bangkok

JUST a few months ago at the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha vowed to reduce Thailand's greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent by 2030, become carbon-neutral by 2050, and achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2065.

He surprised many with his bold targets at the time, but those pledges now seem a world away with the Russia-Ukraine war hiking energy prices and leaving Thailand exposed to the global fossil fuel market in the immediate term.