Bangkok to become low carbon emission city by 2050

BANGKOK, February 24 (TNA) - The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has formed a social network with 60 public and private agencies to turn the Thai capital to become a world low carbon emission city by 2050, together with other major cities globally. Deputy Bangkok Governor Jumpol Sampaopol announced the move and target on Tuesday while opening a workshop on "Bangkok:A Low Carbon Emission City", an activity organised under a BMA strategy on changing Bangkok to become a world low carbon emission city. Jumpol noted that a BMA social network, comprising the City Authority and 60 allied public and private agencies, including offices, hotels, shopping malls and schools in the capital, will drive ahead the campaign. According to the deputy governor, Bangkok emits about 42.65 million tonnes of carbon annually, some 50 per cent of which are from the local transport sector, followed by 35 per cent from electricity consumption and 3 per cent from garbage and waste water. The deputy governor acknowledged that the total amount of carbon emissions in Bangkok is comparable with that in London, where about 44 million tonnes of carbon emit yearly. The deputy governor said Bangkok has worked with major cities in 150 other countries worldwide to implement the Earth Hour activity, in which people and offices are urged to switch off electric lights for one hour, since 2008, aimed to help reduce carbon emissions. Besides, BMA plans to implement other measures to help cut carbon emissions in the capital, including expanding green areas by 5,000 rais (2.5 rais=1 acre) by 2016, reducing the amount of garbage and increasing the collected amount of household hazard wastes by 20 per cent by 2019, reducing energy consumption by 20 per cent by 2030 and promoting a behavioural change within BMA's offices and the low carbon emission network in order to meet the target by 2050. Meanwhile, the Department of Pollution Control, under the Ministry of Natural Resources and environment, reported its success in destroying 75 per cent of garbage in six provinces with a serious waste problem and targeted to eliminate all wastes in the country by 2017. The department's Director-General, Wichien Jungrungruang, told reporters that the six provinces include Ayutthaya, Nakhon Pathom, Saraburi, Lop Buri, Pathum Thani and Samut Prakan, where over 8.28 million tonnes of the overall wastes of 11.05 million tonnes have already been destroyed. (TNA)