An analysis of the Paris Agreement: commitments versus performances in Thailand and Vietnam

Abstract

This chapter provides an analysis of the Paris Agreement on climate change with a focus on individual countries' participations. We rely on the data from Southeast Asian nations, especially Thailand. We examine two countries in Southeast Asia: Thailand and Vietnam. For our analysis, we choose a before-and-after the Paris Agreement approach. In other words, with the Paris Agreement as the fixed point, we compare the commitments of individual countries before the point and their performances through policy changes after the point. The countries' commitments are well documented in their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) submitted to the Paris Agreement. We find that Thailand is well on track to fulfill the commitment made to Paris Agreement. This would come from the increase in renewable energy consumption, a decrease in energy intensity, and an increase in forest carbon sink. Thailand's climate policies cannot be understood separately from the other pressing environmental concern, air pollution in major cities. We find that government programs that create co-benefits of air pollution reduction and greenhouse gas reduction are most likely to succeed.