Opening Remarks
Ian Porter, World Bank Country Director, Thailand
Launch of Country Development Partnership for Environment, Phase II
(CDP-E II), September 12, 2008
Dr. Supat Wangwongwatana
Director General
Pollution Control Department
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen: It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the launch of the Country Development Partnership for Environment (CDP-E) Phase II. This initiative marks another milestone in the Thailand-World Bank partnership. It builds on the three years work of the first very successful CDP-E. Over the years, the relationship between Thailand and the World Bank has shifted from a borrower-lender relationship to one where the Bank’s knowledge products and technical assistance (TA) take on greater importance. During the CDP-E Phase I, we covered five priority areas:
(i) Air Quality Management in Bangkok,
(ii) Water Quality in Priority River Basins,
(iii) Waste Management,
(iv) Global Environment Commitments – Ozone Delpleting Substanes and Climate Change
(v) Strengthening Institutions and Instruments.
During the last four years, climate change has moved to the fore of public and governmental attention. The CDP-E Phase II will address numerous inter-related environmental issues affected by climate change, including coastal erosion and mangrove degradation (especially acute in the Gulf of Thailand) and integrated water resources management. The World Bank will continue to provide technical support for strengthening policy and developing institutional capacity to address each of these issues. We will also work with our public and private sector partners to develop specific carbon finance projects addressing the energy, waste, industry, and forestry sectors. Climate change is not just global and national issue. It is also a local concern as it can have very real and localized consequences. Therefore action to address climate change, mitigate its effects and adapt to its impacts will require strong and decisive action at all levels of government. For this reason, the CDP-E Phase II also gives a high priority to city environmental improvement programs, focusing especially on urban air quality and solid waste management. And, climate change is not the only issue we’re dealing with. Thailand’s rapid growth and urbanization over the past three decades has lifted millions of people out of poverty. But that remarkable progress came at a price. The loss and degradation of natural resources and air pollution are now two of the primary environmental concerns in Thailand. Over the past years, the Bank has been supporting the management of coastal and fresh water resources. We will continue and work to develop pilot investments in integrated water resource management in the Northeast, as well as to help MNRE address coastal erosion in the Gulf of Thailand. The Bank will also continue its support to the ongoing projects funded under the Montreal Protocol (phasing out of industrial use of Ozone Depleting Substances, or ODS) and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and build on the implementation of the CDP-E1 activities, especially sustaining community-based water resource management and improving livestock waste management. Formidable environmental challenges come with development. Under our newly extended partnership which we launch today, the World Bank pledges to work with the Thai government, our UN partners, and other stakeholders to meet these challenges. Our common goal is to assure a clean, safe and sustainable future for coming generations. We look forward to another three years of working together to achieve this goal. Thank you. |
