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47 private organizations from retail businesses, wholesale businesses, real estate businesses, packaging businesses, sugar businesses, cement manufacturers, construction material manufacturers, industrial estates, and the president of the Thai SME Federation joined forces at the CEO Forum: SCG ESG Symposium 2024 to brainstorm and select 6 approaches:
Promoting the use of sustainable packaging
Focusing on managing waste materials
Designing buildings that take into account greenhouse gas reduction
Reducing greenhouse gases in the value chain of the construction industry
Promoting SME entrepreneurs to adapt to global changes
Transitioning to clean energy and using the ‘Saraburi Sandbox’ as a testing ground to propose to the government to drive Thailand towards a low-carbon society and increase the country’s competitiveness.
Mr. Thammasak Sethaudom, President and CEO of SCG, said that to drive the plan to transform Thailand into a low-carbon society, SCG has invited business representatives to join in providing suggestions and finding ways to cooperate to drive Thailand towards Net Zero, as well as create opportunities and increase competitiveness. The results of the brainstorming on 6 topics are as follows:
Aiming to drive waste management (Waste Management) Recycling waste to create maximum value is the best management method. Currently, it is found that less than 20 percent of waste in Thailand is recycled. Therefore, 2 solutions are proposed: Manage waste from the beginning through sorting to make recycling easier. Start by asking for cooperation from the private sector in various areas or buildings. In addition, the government should issue regulations, starting with wholesale markets as a model and then expanding to other sectors before enacting laws to enforce sorting. And propose that the government establish an agency to manage the collection of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) taxes with a clear objective of using the tax to manage waste for efficiency and transparency.
Promoting the use of sustainable packaging (Sustainable Packaging) Using packaging from recycled materials is a solution that still has many limitations, especially for food products whose packaging cannot maintain the shelf life of the product. Therefore, the government should have policies to support entrepreneurs, such as in terms of taxes or investment in research for the private sector to develop packaging from recycled materials that are truly usable at an affordable price. In addition, the government should focus on creating awareness among consumers, especially the youth, such as designing an educational curriculum that instils in the new generation the importance of jointly caring for and preserving the environment in order to promote the use of packaging from recycled materials in the long term.
Promoting SMEs to adapt to global changes (How to Raise Awareness and Support SMEs Towards Green Transition SMEs) The research found that SMEs have limitations in terms of human resources and capital. Therefore, it is recommended that SMEs view ESG as an opportunity for business and look for new markets and consumer groups that demand environmentally friendly products. Furthermore, if entrepreneurs switch to clean energy, it will help reduce costs and increase the value of the products. At the same time, the government should support them to access loans and give Green Priority to help SMEs quickly adapt in order not to lose business opportunities in the future.
The design of buildings that take into account greenhouse gas reduction (GHG and Waste Reduction in Construction Design) proposes 3 stages of management, starting from:
upstream by encouraging building designers to consider the reduction of greenhouse gases, both embodied carbon from the use of construction materials and operational carbon from energy use during the management of the building.
midstream by having the government provide tax benefits or low-interest loans during the construction of low-carbon buildings or providing a Floor to Area Ratio (FAR) increase of 5-10 percent for buildings that have been certified by the Green Building Standard (LEED)
downstream by managing waste construction materials so that they can be recycled as much as possible.
GHG and Waste Reduction in Construction Value Chain Every building has a high Carbon Footprint of Products, consumes a lot of energy and emits greenhouse gases throughout the chain, from construction to building management. Therefore, it requires cooperation from both the public and private sectors. The private sector that constructs should use low-carbon construction materials and transfer knowledge and the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to contractors to create stronger cooperation. Meanwhile, the public sector should have clear guidelines for buildings that use solar power so that carbon credits can be used in other areas or to increase the competitiveness of building owners.
Using ‘Saraburi Sandbox’ as a test area for creating a low-carbon society (Energy Transition & Saraburi Sandbox) Saraburi Province is an area that produces a large amount of cement. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on the transition to clean energy in both the production process and transportation. The private sector must cooperate, such as electric vehicle manufacturers collaborating with electric vehicle charger installers, etc. Meanwhile, the government sector must play a role in procuring and delivering clean energy to the private sector to create a “Green Infrastructure” ecosystem, including sustainable waste management in the area using the Waste to Material approach by using technology to help waste materials achieve maximum value and expand the results of Saraburi Sandbox to other provinces such as Ayutthaya. “This is an important phenomenon where leading private organizations in Thailand, with a combined operating result of more than 1.25 trillion baht, have joined forces to find a solution to accelerate the transformation of Thailand into a low-carbon society, creating opportunities and increasing competitiveness for sustainable growth of the Thai economy. Because the more you accelerate change, the more opportunities you will have,” added Mr. Thammasak. |
