H.E. Siri Jirapongphan, Minister of Energy, Thailand
1
WELCOME REMARK
by
H.E. Dr. Siri Jiraphongpan
Minister of Energy
Government of Thailand
at
The Global SDG7 Conference
0900 am, Thursday, 22 February 2018
UNCC, Bangkok
(5 minutes)
Excellency Marie Chatardova, President of UN Economic and Social Council,
Your Excellencies, Ministers from Member States and Associate Members,
Your Excellencies, Ambassadors from Member States and Associate Members,
Mr. Liu Zhenmin, Under Secretary-General, United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
Madame Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, Under Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP,
Honorable Delegates
Representatives of the Governments and Diplomatic Corps,
Distinguished Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
A pleasant good morning and welcome to Bangkok…
On behalf of the Royal Thai Government as the host-country of the Global SDG7 Conference, I wish to thank the United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) for inviting the Ministry of Energy of Thailand and myself to speak at this important gathering to be held here in Bangkok.
First of all, I cordially welcome all Delegates and Participants to this high-level meeting where its outcome will be prepared as an input to the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) to be held in New York in July 2018 to support the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.
2
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As we are aware, since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in September 2015, many countries are making progress in realizing their effort to meet the targets of SDG by 2030, but challenges and difficulties in implementation still continue to persist. Of course, implementing the 2030 Agenda will require collective action in every country, making sure it is tailored to local needs and priorities. While the SDGs are universally applicable, each government will also decide how these aspirational and global targets could be incorporated in national planning processes, policies, and strategies.
In this connection, Thailand’s national policy has been aligned with SDGs. Thailand has established the National Committee on Sustainable Development or NCSD and incorporated the SDGs into our National Economic and Social Development Plan. The SDG Roadmap has been formulated involving government, private sector and civil society, in consistence with our 20-Year National Strategy 2030. Towards the Sustainable Development Goal 7, the Royal Thai Government has established strong pillars to drive our sustainable energy development path in compliance with the UN SDG 7 which are focused on energy security, accessibility, affordability, as well as technologies and innovation for production and deployment of clean energy taking into account the energy efficiency improvement in all sectors. Many measures have been applied and entered into force, for examples: • Expansion of sufficient infrastructure especially distribution system and transmission lines throughout the country • Promotion of renewable energy particularly in the household sector • Increase of electricity and heat production from various sources of renewables • Strengthening of legal and compulsory measures under National Energy Conservation Act to improve energy efficiency and appropriate deployment of energy technologies Ladies and Gentlemen, Allow me to share with you that the Royal Thai Government is now launching Thailand’s ENEGY 4.0 Policy towards a more secured and sustainable energy future. This is of course one of the enabler to move our energy sector towards SDG7. In achieving the goals, the private sector could be a real player with support of the government’s effective and predictable policy. We anticipate that the private sector as a real driver for implementation could bring not only
3
investments but also the necessary technologies and innovations for the achievement of SDG7. Although Thai government has adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as its national agenda, from the lesson-learnt, our sustainable development path is still facing challenges at the implementation stage. All sectors must realize the importance of sustainable development philosophy and it must be ingrained in the inner consciousness, not from enforcing rules. Then the action process will become smoother. At the same time, for the country’s SDG performance to align with UN rating, updated information- sharing together with data improvement, as well as effective monitoring and clear SDG path should be taken into account from the beginning. I believe, the achievement of the SDGs requires shared responsibility and collective efforts with full engagement and contribution from all stakeholders through national and regional cooperation, that is, government, private sector, and community, especially along with strong economic and political will.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
In my conclusion, I am confident that, with our cooperative efforts, our shared goals through the progress of SDG7 towards 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in strengthening energy security in the region will not be far from our reach.
I strongly wish to see an additional step forward, as a result of this high level meeting, in realizing successful implementation of the UN SDG in the near future by the timeline and milestones.
Once again, Thailand looks forward to working closely with the United Nations and having closest collaboration and continued support from all Member States in order to reinforce our energy cooperation to strengthen regional energy security for mutual benefits. I do believe that the Global SDG7 Conference would further pave the way for closer energy cooperation in the region and the World.
I wish the Meeting every success!
Thank you very much.
/drwc/Feb16, 2018
WELCOME REMARK
by
H.E. Dr. Siri Jiraphongpan
Minister of Energy
Government of Thailand
at
The Global SDG7 Conference
0900 am, Thursday, 22 February 2018
UNCC, Bangkok
(5 minutes)
Excellency Marie Chatardova, President of UN Economic and Social Council,
Your Excellencies, Ministers from Member States and Associate Members,
Your Excellencies, Ambassadors from Member States and Associate Members,
Mr. Liu Zhenmin, Under Secretary-General, United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
Madame Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, Under Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP,
Honorable Delegates
Representatives of the Governments and Diplomatic Corps,
Distinguished Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
A pleasant good morning and welcome to Bangkok…
On behalf of the Royal Thai Government as the host-country of the Global SDG7 Conference, I wish to thank the United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) for inviting the Ministry of Energy of Thailand and myself to speak at this important gathering to be held here in Bangkok.
First of all, I cordially welcome all Delegates and Participants to this high-level meeting where its outcome will be prepared as an input to the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) to be held in New York in July 2018 to support the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.
2
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As we are aware, since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in September 2015, many countries are making progress in realizing their effort to meet the targets of SDG by 2030, but challenges and difficulties in implementation still continue to persist. Of course, implementing the 2030 Agenda will require collective action in every country, making sure it is tailored to local needs and priorities. While the SDGs are universally applicable, each government will also decide how these aspirational and global targets could be incorporated in national planning processes, policies, and strategies.
In this connection, Thailand’s national policy has been aligned with SDGs. Thailand has established the National Committee on Sustainable Development or NCSD and incorporated the SDGs into our National Economic and Social Development Plan. The SDG Roadmap has been formulated involving government, private sector and civil society, in consistence with our 20-Year National Strategy 2030. Towards the Sustainable Development Goal 7, the Royal Thai Government has established strong pillars to drive our sustainable energy development path in compliance with the UN SDG 7 which are focused on energy security, accessibility, affordability, as well as technologies and innovation for production and deployment of clean energy taking into account the energy efficiency improvement in all sectors. Many measures have been applied and entered into force, for examples: • Expansion of sufficient infrastructure especially distribution system and transmission lines throughout the country • Promotion of renewable energy particularly in the household sector • Increase of electricity and heat production from various sources of renewables • Strengthening of legal and compulsory measures under National Energy Conservation Act to improve energy efficiency and appropriate deployment of energy technologies Ladies and Gentlemen, Allow me to share with you that the Royal Thai Government is now launching Thailand’s ENEGY 4.0 Policy towards a more secured and sustainable energy future. This is of course one of the enabler to move our energy sector towards SDG7. In achieving the goals, the private sector could be a real player with support of the government’s effective and predictable policy. We anticipate that the private sector as a real driver for implementation could bring not only
3
investments but also the necessary technologies and innovations for the achievement of SDG7. Although Thai government has adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as its national agenda, from the lesson-learnt, our sustainable development path is still facing challenges at the implementation stage. All sectors must realize the importance of sustainable development philosophy and it must be ingrained in the inner consciousness, not from enforcing rules. Then the action process will become smoother. At the same time, for the country’s SDG performance to align with UN rating, updated information- sharing together with data improvement, as well as effective monitoring and clear SDG path should be taken into account from the beginning. I believe, the achievement of the SDGs requires shared responsibility and collective efforts with full engagement and contribution from all stakeholders through national and regional cooperation, that is, government, private sector, and community, especially along with strong economic and political will.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
In my conclusion, I am confident that, with our cooperative efforts, our shared goals through the progress of SDG7 towards 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in strengthening energy security in the region will not be far from our reach.
I strongly wish to see an additional step forward, as a result of this high level meeting, in realizing successful implementation of the UN SDG in the near future by the timeline and milestones.
Once again, Thailand looks forward to working closely with the United Nations and having closest collaboration and continued support from all Member States in order to reinforce our energy cooperation to strengthen regional energy security for mutual benefits. I do believe that the Global SDG7 Conference would further pave the way for closer energy cooperation in the region and the World.
I wish the Meeting every success!
Thank you very much.
/drwc/Feb16, 2018
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