Thailand

To first establish historical emissions from 1990-2000, data excl. the LULUCF sector for 1994 and 2000 was obtained from Thailand’s Second Biennial Update Report (BUR2), with emissions interpolated in between (ONEP, 2017). Historical emissions from 1990 to 1994 were extrapolated backwards based on emission trends. The time series was harmonized to Thailand’s Third Biennial Update Report (BUR3), in AR4 GWPs, by applying emissions growth rates backwards from the BUR3’s earliest inventory year (2000) to the base year of 1990 (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, 2020b). Historical emissions data from 2000-2016 were taken from the BUR3. From 2016 and 2019, energy-related CO₂ follows the growth rate of IEA CO₂ emissions from fuel combustion (2021a) while other CO₂ and non-CO₂ gases follow the growth rates of PRIMAP-hist national historical emissions time series (Gütschow, J.; Günther, A.; Jeffery, L.; Gieseke, 2021). For 2019 emissions we apply a gas-by gas approach: For direct CO₂ emissions, we apply growth rates from the Global Carbon Budget (Le Quéré et al., 2020). For non-CO₂ emissions, we additionally consider a sector split. For Energy and Industry non-CO₂ emissions, we estimate the emissions intensity (GHG emissions/GDP) from a pre-pandemic scenario and apply the most recent GDP projections (see below). For Agriculture, Waste, and Other non-CO₂ emissions, we extrapolate the last 5-year average from historic emissions.

Thailand’s 2020 NAMA targets, 7-20% under business-as-usual (BAU) (applying to the energy and transport sector) are quantified (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, 2014). As there is no BAU published for 2020, we calculate the value in 2020 based on reports from BUR3 that the country had achieved a 15.76% GHG emission reduction from BAU as of 2018 (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, 2020b). Based on our calculations, the BAU for 2020 was set at 469 MtCO₂e/year excl. LULUCF, implying 2020 emission level targets of between 375 to 436 MtCO₂e/year. According to our analysis, Thailand overachieved the range of its targets with emission levels at 342 MtCO₂e/year in 2020, largely due to the economic down-turn caused by COVID-19. Prior to COVID-19, Thailand was on track to be safely within the range.

The NDC targets for 2030 consists of a 20% unconditional and 25% conditional target in emissions reduction under BAU (Government of the Kingdom of Thailand, 2020b). The targets exclude emissions from LULUCF. As noted in Thailand’s NDC submission, the BAU for 2030 was set at 555 MtCO₂e/year excluding LULUCF, implying unconditional and conditional targets of 444 and 416 MtCO₂e/year respectively.

Thailand’s current policy projections (CPP) uses APEC Energy Outlook (2019) BAU scenario (includes current policies) to establish historical (from 2015) and projected data (to 2035) for electricity generation and final energy consumption by fuel as well as total economy-wide emissions (excl. LULUCF). Electricity generation shares by fuel for 2020 is adjusted to the latest updated statistics from BP (2020) and Ember (Ember, 2021) as APEC’s historical data is outdated. Final energy consumption is not adjusted to other sources, such as BP (2020) and official statistics from the Energy Policy and Planning Office (EPPO) and Electricity Generation Authority of Thailand (EGAT) due to large differences in inventory and accounting methods (EPPO, 2021). As a sensitivity check, 2020 values were cross-referenced with historical data from the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency (DEDE) from the Ministry of Energy (MoE), which are closely matched (e.g. Ministry of Energy, 2019b). Values were extrapolated with 5-year historical trends to 2037 to compare numbers with Thailand’s long-term energy planning horizon.

Electricity emission factors for fossil fuels use IEA’s World Energy Outlook for Southeast Asia (2019), given no better sources and EGAT’s historical statistics does not include technology breakdowns for Independent, Small, and Very Small power producers. Factors for 2020 are assumed to be the same as those for 2025 since Thailand’s emission intensity should be better than the regional average. Factors for 2037 are assumed to be the same as 2035.

Thailand’s planned policy projections (PPP) follow the Power Development Plan (PDP) and Alternative Energy Development Plan (AEDP), with the following share targets to be achieved in 2037 (Ministry of Energy, 2019c, 2019a):

• Generation:
  • Gas: 53%
  • Coal: 12%
  • Renewables: 20%
  • Imported hydro: 9%
  • Others: 6%
• Energy consumption:
  • Renewables: 30%

For generation, the PPP matches the CPP for all historical years until 2020 before specific fuel shares are expected to reach their targets linearly to 2037. Total generation from the power sector also matches CPP. Compared to the CPP, the PPP projects lower electricity generation for fossil fuel sources and also a larger reliance on gas compared to coal. For end-use sector consumption, historical data and projected total energy consumption data is also matched to the CPP, while we assume renewable energy share targets are reached linearly to 2037. The mix of fuel shares for fossil fuels are assumed to mirror the mix of the CPP over time. Overall, fossil fuel shares in energy consumption are lower than the CPP by 13% due to the large renewables target.

The PPP uses the same methodology for electricity emission factors as the CPP to quantify emissions.

We applied a novel method to estimate the COVID-19 related dip in greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 and its impact until 2030. The uncertainty surrounding the severity and length of the pandemic creates a new level of uncertainty for current and future greenhouse gas emissions.

We take 2020 as the last historical data point and for emissions between 2020 and 2030, we first update the current and planned policy projections using the most recent projections, usually prepared before the pandemic. We then distil the emission intensity (GHG emissions/GDP) from this pre-pandemic scenario and apply to it most recent GDP projections that take into account the effect of the pandemic. Our 2020 estimate incorporates the GDP contraction of -6.1% as reported by the NESDC with our pre-Covid emissions estimate based on APEC (2019) emissions harmonised with BUR3 (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, 2020b; Yuda, 2021). The revised GDP projections from Thailand’s Ministry of Finance (2021) of 2.5% in 2021 were used to create the lower bound of our current policy projections while the Board of Investment’s (2021) projection of 3.06% was the most optimistic estimate for 2021, creating the upper bound. The forecast going forward relied on IMF (2021) projections. We also considered the most recent GDP projections from the World Bank (2021), IMF, ADB (2021)and Thailand’s NESDC (2021) but these fell within this range estimated as described above.

The CAT uses Global Warming Potential (GWP) values from the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) for all its figures and time series. Assessments completed prior to December 2018 (COP24) used GWP values from the Second Assessment Report (SAR).