Mineral Resources DIVISION
Natural Resources and the SDGs
A country snapshot for Thailand
Draft for country consultation prepared by Heinz Schandl, James West, Tim Baynes and Karin Hosking
Contents
1 Introduction to natural resources and the SDGs 3
2 Water 6
3 Energy 9
4 Materials 13
5 Waste and emissions 17
6 Trade 20
7 Natural resource use, emissions and human development 23
8 Supporting countries to monitor environmental and natural resource use pressure indicators 24
1 Introduction to natural resources and the SDGs
The post-2015 development agenda and the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to raise the material standard of living, build infrastructure and alleviate poverty in Asian developing countries. They also highlight the important role natural resources – materials, energy, water and land – play in human development and the waste and emissions that occur across the whole lifecycle of natural resource use. There are specific goals that address environmental pressures and impacts of economic growth and human development. Goal 6 for water, goal 7 for energy, goal 8 for resource productivity, goal 12 for materials and waste, goal 13 for emissions and climate and goal 14 for land. The international community has agreed on indicators for monitoring progress against goals and targets of the SDGs, many of which relate to environmental pressures and impacts.
This short report gives a quick overview of Thailand’s performance against the sustainable development goals (SDGs) that address natural resource use and emissions, using a set of indicators to measure this performance. While most countries have established data sets for economic and social domains there is often a lack of environmental data, which this snapshot addresses. The data and indicators for the snapshot are taken from the Indicators for a Resource Efficient and Green Asia data set established by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) office for Asia and the Pacific under the SWITCH-Asia regional policy support component funded by the European Union.
The environmental indicators we present for Thailand are based on satellite accounts for natural resources and emissions and are compatible with the economic accounts. This allows decision makers to gain an integrated view of economy – environment trade-offs and to formulate policies that simultaneously address economic, social and environmental objectives
Thailand’s performance is measured for the past 45 years (1970–2015) and compared against the average for Asian developing countries.
Natural Resources and the SDGs | 28
SDG Goal / SDG Target / IAEG Indicator / Thailand / Asia-Pacific Developing / Asia-Pacific OECD // 2010 / 2015 / 2010 / 2015 / 2010 / 2015 /
/ 6.4 – by 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors / 6.4.1 Change in water-use efficiency over time
(litres per US$) / 254 / 219 / 301 / 217 / 21 / 18
/ 7.2 – by 2030, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix / 7.2.1 Renewable energy share in total primary energy supply[1]
(percentage) / 19.6% / 17.7% / 3.7%
7.3 – By 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency / 7.3.1 Energy intensity measured in terms of primary energy and gross domestic product (GDP)
(MJ per US$) / 21.9 / 22.0 / 25.5 / 23.8 / 5.7 / 5.6
/ 8.4 – Improve progressively, through 2030, global resource efficiency in consumption and production and endeavour to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation … / 8.4.1 Material Footprint (MF) per GDP
(kg per US$) / 2.9 / 2.7 / 4.5 / 4.1 / 0.7 / 0.7
8.4.2 Domestic Material Consumption (DMC) per GDP
(kg per US$) / 2.3 / 2.1 / 5.2 / 4.6 / 0.5 / 0.5
/ 12.2 – by 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources / 12.2.1 Material footprint (MF)
(million tonnes) / 649 / 715 / 28,740 / 36,548 / 4,974 / 5,464
12.2.1 Material footprint (MF) per capita
(tonnes) / 9.8 / 10.6 / 8.1 / 9.8 / 24.0 / 25.9
12.2.1 Material footprint (MF) per dollar
(US$) / 2.9 / 2.7 / 4.5 / 4.1 / 0.7 / 0.7
12.2.2 Domestic Material Consumption (DMC)
(million tonnes) / 519 / 551 / 33,676 / 41,693 / 3,188 / 3,555
12.2.2 Domestic Material Consumption (DMC) per capita
(tonnes) / 7.8 / 8.2 / 9.5 / 11.2 / 15.4 / 16.9
12.2.2 Domestic Material Consumption per dollar
(US$) / 2.3 / 2.1 / 5.2 / 4.6 / 0.5 / 0.5
/ 17.11 – significantly increase the exports of developing countries, in particular with a view to doubling the least developed countries’ share of global exports by 2020 / 17.11.1 Developing countries and least developed countries export value per capita[2]
(US$) / 2,479 / 3,070 / 640 / 844 / 8,955 / 10,233
Natural Resources and the SDGs | 28
2 Water
SDG goal 6 addresses issues around water and aims for universal accessibility to good quality water, and access to sewerage systems for all. Target 6.4 emphasizes the need to use water most efficiently to avoid wasteful behaviour and to address water scarcity. Six indicators in the UNEP data set monitor progress against target 6.4. These include total water extraction, per capita water use, total and per capita water footprint and the economic efficiency of water use.
SDG 6.4: By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of fresh water to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity.
IAEG[3] indicator:
· 6.4.1 Percentage change of water use efficiency over time – litres per US$
· 6.4.2 Percentage of total available water resources used, taking environmental water requirements into account (level of water stress) – not covered in this report
Additional indicators:
· Water extraction per capita – thousand litres
· Water footprint per capita – thousand litres
Table 1. Indicators for SDG 6.4, values for start and end years. Red signals deterioration over period[4], green shows improvement
For all indicators in Table 1, a decrease across time indicates and improvement in performance.[5]
Table 1 shows that on all six direct indicators used as proxies for performance against SDG 6.4, between 1990 and 2010, Thailand moved towards greater sustainability. For water extraction (and the per capita and water intensity indicators based on it), the results just reflect a poor data situation, with one estimate of water extraction available in the base data set, for the entire period, and so little can be inferred here. In contrast, water footprint (WF) has a full data series from 1990 on, and is calculated on a trade adjusted basis. WF has decreased in both absolute and per capita terms. On this basis, Thailand is using less water, and is improving the efficiency with which it is using water to generate income. Unfortunately, lack of time series data on Total Water Extraction prevents us from assessing to what extent the dual drivers of increasing population and increasing GDP may have offset these positive developments in water footprint, and whether the territorial demand for water, and the environmental loading its physical extraction and disposal imposes locally, increased or decreased over the period from 1970 to 2010.
On the relative indicators, we see that Thailand's water usage per capita relative to the Developing Asia average deteriorated slightly on a WF per capita basis, and even more in terms of adjusted WF, even though its absolute performance improved on both (especially adjusted WF). By 2010 Thailand had a WF significantly higher than the regional average.
Detailed time series data showing Thailand's water extraction per capita and water footprint per capita are given in Figure 1, with corresponding data for the Developing Asia group, enabling detailed comparisons of their respective trajectories over time. Figure 2 facilitates similar comparisons for water intensity and water intensity adjusted for trade.
Figure 1. Per capita water use and water footprint for Thailand and Developing Asia group, 1970–2015, kl per capita
Figure 2. Water intensity of production and consumption for Thailand and Developing Asia group, 1970–2015, litres per US$
3 Energy
Goal 7 of the SDGs addresses the importance of energy availability for economic growth and human development and aims to ensure universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy. Increasing the energy supply and broadening access is understood to be a main driver of economic growth.
SDG goal 7 addresses the importance of energy availability for human development (target 7.1), the need for decarbonizing the energy system (target 7.2) and the necessity to improve energy efficiency across the whole economy (target 7.3).
SDG 7.1: By 2030, ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services
IAEG Indicators:
· 7.1.1. Percentage of population with access to electricity – not covered in this report
· 7.1.2 Percentage of population with primary reliance on clean fuels and technology – not covered in this report
Additional indicators:
· Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES) – Peta Joules
· Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES) per capita – Giga Joules
· Energy Footprint (EF) – Peta Joules
· Energy Footprint (EF) per capita – Giga Joules
Table 2. Indicators for SDG 7.1, values for start and end years. Red signals deterioration over period, green shows improvement
Table 2 shows all four of the direct indicators of performance against SDG 7.1 deteriorating, i.e. becoming less sustainable over time. Growth in TPES and energy footprint, and both per capita values, more than doubled over the period 1990 to 2010. Thailand has moved from a dependence on biomass, waste and other non-hydro power renewables in 1970, to a dependence on imported gas and petroleum (around half of Thailand’s TPES is imported). The energy footprint metrics are less than the territorial values indicating that Thailand exports more energy intensive products than it consumes. However, compared to the Developing Asia group average, Thailand’s performance is relatively less sustainable.
Detailed time series data showing the evolution of Thailand's TPES per capita and energy footprint per capita compared to averages for the Developing Asia group are provided in Figure 3.
Figure 3. Per capita TPES input and energy footprint for Thailand and Developing Asia group, 1970–2015, GJ per capita
SDG 7.2: Increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix by 2030
Improvements in energy efficiency have not kept up with the fast expansion of energy supply and the amount of energy required per unit of economic output has slightly increased since the 1970s.
The most effective approach to reduce GHG emissions is to decarbonize the energy system through investment into renewable energy including solar, wind and geothermal. Target 7.2 requires a substantial increase in renewable energy. There are different forms of renewable energy which include traditional renewables (biomass and waste), hydroelectricity and modern renewables such as solar wind and geothermal. Target 7.1 addresses a transition from traditional to modern energy sources. Achievements in target 7.1 will require a decrease in traditional renewables of which many developing countries have still a high share. Hydroelectricity and modern renewable are comparably small in most Asian developing countries which results in an overall decline of renewable energy shares in most countries. Hydroelectricity has good credential for reducing GHG emissions but raises a multitude of other environmental and social concerns such as the interruption of natural flow regimes and the displacement of local communities.
IAEG indicator:
· 7.2.1 Renewable energy share in the total final energy consumption – percentage
Additional indicators:
· Share of traditional renewable energy (burning of biomass and waste) in Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES) – percentage
· Share of hydroelectricity in TPES – percentage
· Share of modern renewable energy (solar, wind and geothermal) in TPES – percentage
Table 3. Indicators for SDG 7.2, values for start and end years. Red signals deterioration over period, green shows improvement
SDG 7.3: By 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency
IAEG indicator:
· Energy intensity measured in terms of primary energy and gross domestic product (GDP) – Mega Joules per US$
Additional indicator:
· Energy footprint intensity – Mega Joules per US$
Improving the efficiency of energy use is the other important strategy to decrease the climate impact of energy provision.
Table 4. Indicators for SDG 7.3, values for start and end years. Red signals deterioration over period, green shows improvement
Table 4 shows both of the direct indicators of performance against SDG 7.3 moved marginally away from environmental sustainability over the period 1990 to 2010. Adjusted energy intensity remained more stable than the TPES based measure, indicating that local consumption is marginally more energy-efficient than territorial production.
The two relative indicators in Table 4 show that, compared to the average performance of the Developing Asia group of countries, Thailand has historically remained better than average when viewed from an environmental sustainability perspective. This situation is changing and Thailand is rapidly converging on the regional average because its energy needs are increasing while its GDP growth has not kept pace with that of the Developing Asia group of countries.
Detailed time series data showing the evolution of Thailand's energy intensity (TPES/GDP) and adjusted energy intensity (EF/GDP), and how they compare to averages for the Developing Asia group are provided in Figure 4.
Figure 4. Energy intensity of production and consumption for Thailand and Developing Asia group, 1970–2015, MJ per US$