Energy and Environment. The PCA ensures increased cooperation and exchange of best practices in bilateral and multilateral fora to resolve climate, energy, environmental and biodiversity challenges. EU-Thailand cooperation will focus on the development of renewable energies, and energy efficiency, as well as green technologies necessary for a fair and clean energy transition. Regional cooperation The EU and Thailand cooperate at regional level through ASEAN, including through the EU-ASEAN High-Level Dialogue on Environment and Climate Change and the Enhanced Regional EU-ASEAN Dialogue Instrument (E-READI). There is also a Green Team Europe Initiative launched by the European Union last year in partnership with South East Asia. At the EU-ASEAN Commemorative Summit, both sides also established an EU-ASEAN Energy Dialogue. The EU and Thailand are exploring further cooperation on the sustainable management of forests. Illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing (IUU) The EU has developed cooperation on Illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing with Thailand, which facilitated the adoption of a legislative and regulatory framework designed to effectively combat these practices. EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND INNOVATION EU-Thailand cooperation on higher education, research and innovation provides a valuable contribution to mutual socio- economic development. In September 2022, the EU and Thailand signed an administrative arrangement to promote cooperation on frontier science and to support Thai researchers’ participation in research projects funded by the European Research Council. 50 THAI RESEARCHERS BENEFITTED FROM EU HORIZON 2020 FUNDING 30 OF THE THAI PARTICIPANTS IN HORIZON 2020 WERE REPRESENTED BY MSCA THAILAND WAS THE 3RD LARGEST CONTRIBUTOR IN ASIA TO ERASMUS+ CAPACITY BUILDING IN HIGHER EDUCATION ACTION (CBHE) PROJECTS (2015-2020) MORE THAN 2,000 THAI STUDENTS AND SCHOLARS HAVE TAKEN PART IN THE ERASMUS+ INTERNATIONAL CREDIT MOBILITY SCHEME 15 PROJECTS INVOLVING THAILAND HAVE ALREADY BEEN GRANTED FUNDING UNDER THE FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME HORIZON EUROPE (2021 - 2027)
Energy and Environment. The President protected the Inflation Reduction Act' s historic climate provisions. The agreement keeps the country moving in the direction of a clean energy economy and maintains environmental justice investments and substantive environmental protections across clean air, water, and communities. • Preserves funding for low-income and fence-line communities: The President protected tens of billions of dollars for clean energy in disadvantaged communities, rebates to retrofit homes and save money for low-income Americans, and clean-up efforts for harmful pollutants from oil and gas that disproportionately impact fence-line communities. • Maintains substantive environmental protections: The agreement does not allow mining companies to store hazardous waste near communities without permits, polluting industries to skirt review under the Clean Air Act, and oil refineries to expose workers and communities to toxic chemicals. The agreement maintains substantive environmental protections under the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Toxic Substances Control Act, and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). • Accelerates projects through process efficiencies: The agreement codifies, in NEPA, reforms aimed at boosting the coordination, predictability, and certainty associated with federal agency decision-making. The agreement includes provisions to designate a single lead agency, charged with developing a single environmental review document according to a clear and public timeline. The agreement also requires agencies to complete environmental reviews in 1 year — or 2 years in the case of the most environmentally complex projects. The agreement makes these changes without curtailing the substantive scope of NEPA, cutting down the statute of limitations, imposing barriers to standing, or taking away injunctive relief or other judicial remedies.
Energy and Environment. Promote energy efficiency and conservation to reduce greenhouse gases which cause climate change, by scaling up grass-roots activities for efficient use and clean energy services for rural poor; • provide the private sector with comprehensive assistances for technology and equipment upgrading, improved incentives for investment, and sustainable energy management practices; • reduce energy consumption in the public sector such as street lighting, schools and public building; • improved capacity to control agro- and industrial wastes through promotion of cleaner production; reduction, recycling and eco-friendly disposal of industrial wastes; • elimination of stockpiles of POPs, agricultural pesticides, and other hazardous chemicals.
