Thai companies plan to launch carbon trading platform 'soon': executive

A consortium of Thai companies, including energy companies and oil refineries, are developing carbon trading and plan to launch a trading platform in the Southeast Asian country, Gloyta Nathalang, Executive Vice President Corporate Sustainability, Branding & Communications at Bangchak Corp, told S&P Global Commodity Insights July 7.

"The Federation of Thai Industries is developing a carbon trading platform which will be launched soon," Nathalang, who is also chairperson of Thailand's Carbon Markets Club, said on the sidelines of an online event. She did not provide further details.

"As of now there are three bodies working to support carbon credit trading in Thailand, namely FTI, Thailand Carbon Neutral Network under TGO and Carbon Markets Club," Nathalang added.

The Federation of Thai Industries is a trade association, and Thailand Carbon Neutral Network is a network of organizations that includes commercial and academic institutions under the public Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization or TGO.

The Carbon Markets Club was set up un June 2021 to support carbon credit and Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) trading.

Its members include oil refining company Bangchak Corp, state power regulator Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), Shell Co of Thailand, Bank of Ayudhya, Tetra Pak (Thailand), Bangkok Industrial Gas Co, and BTS Group Holdings.

The Carbon Markets Club has been promoting trading of carbon credits under the Thailand Voluntary Emissions Reduction Program (T-VER) of the TGO and Renewable Energy Certificates under EGAT, and plans to digitize the current over-the-counter mode of trade.

The Thailand Voluntary Emission Reduction Program (T-VER) is a voluntary program for refineries like Bangchak to reduce 2% of their greenhouse gas emissions. Bangchak itself has set a target to become carbon neutral by 2030 helped by the use of emission reduction and carbon offset programs.

At COP26, Thailand proposed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2065-2070 under a new energy plan that boost the share of renewable energy in power generation.