Closing Remarks By Mr. Weerachai Chomsakorn Executive Director Office of Decentralisation to Local Government Organization Committee, Prime Minister’s Office, Thailand Wednesday 31st October 2012

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, It is my pleasure to be here today to witness this innovative and fruitful regional workshop on Asia-Pacific Local Practitioners and Climate Change Finance Workshop: Implications of Local Governance and Decentralisation for the effective delivery of finance for climate change at the local level. And I would like to congratulate the organisers for bringing this important event to Thailand.

The Thai government has made Climate Change as one of its top priorities. In this context it is very beneficial for us to share experiences with our neighbouring Asia-Pacific countries together with representatives from Civil Service Organisations, regional and international organisations and development partners. This can enable us to strengthen our Local Governance and Decentralisation as well as climate finance system to be ready for additional domestic and international resources – to both better access and to manage them.

The Office of Decentralisation of the Local Government Organization Committee under the Prime Minister’s Office provides support in framing national policies, rules and regulation in Decentralisation process in Thailand, including Financial delivery linked to climate change.

Local governments in Thailand have roles and responsibilities to provide services to conserve the environment and address Climate Change issues i.e. waste and garbage management, health service provision, infrastructure maintenance, trees planting. However, at the local level, there is still lack of sufficient knowledge on definition of climate change and in identifying adequate measures both in terms of Adapting to climate risks and reducing green-house gas emissions.

Strengthened decentralisation and local governance capacity needs strong and continued political engagement at both national level and local levels. Further process in taking forward Climate Change Finance to be one of the long term national agendas will help securing the continuity of its implementation and enhancement.  The Office of Decentralisation of the Local Government Organization Committee encourages local governments to integrate their works and it would be very useful to promote coherence among key partners at local level in an interdisciplinary way.

This interdisciplinary working approach enables key government agencies to understand better not only each other’s roles and priorities but also to understand the overall picture of the country’s Climate Change Finance structure so that we can work together to sustainably strengthen our system.

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,   I am delighted to see that important issues on Decentralisation and climate Change finance management have been discussed here in Thailand and shared among all participating countries. For our part, I am confident that Thailand will continue to work on promoting effective delivery of climate finance within the context of decentralisation and local governance reform.

May I wish you all safe travels back to your home countries. We are ready to work with International organisations such as the UN system, and others, in order to strengthen our capacity to deliver better Climate Change Finance at the local level for the welfare of the Thai people.   May I wish you all safe travels back to your home countries. Thank you very much.