LEGAL ISSUES INVOLVING SALE OF CARBON CREDIT IN THAILAND

Abstract

The objectives of this study were 1) to study the background, concepts, and theories about the carbon credit trading market, 2) to study the background, concepts, and theories of legal problems about carbon credit under the Kyoto Protocol that operationalizes the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 3) to study the background, concepts, and theories, legal problems related to carbon credit under the decree establishing the Greenhouse Gas Management Organization (Public Organization), and 4) to study and compare legal issues related to carbon credit trading at both domestic and international levels, including: Chaina, India and Vietnam. Its purpose was to serve as a guideline for further amendments to the law for the local communities' economic development. This research was qualitative research based on documentary research and conclusions for the analysis, to guide useful recommendations in the future.

The study found that the “Global Climate Change” as a result of rising temperatures or the current “Global Warming” problems was partially due to the emission of large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. To prevent such crises, many states had agreed to promulgated “The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change”, or referred to as the “UNFCCC Convention”, which was entered into force in 1994 and conducted to correct the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on both ecosystems and natural phenomena.

Nowadays, “Carbon Credit” was played a vital role between many countries as a major mechanism for trading ownership of greenhouse gases from any country or manufacturer that could reduce its emissions. In other words, each country or manufacturer was awarded credits that allowed them to continue polluting up to specific limits and could sell unnecessary credits to another country or manufacturer that needed them or vice versa.

Thailand has ratified the UNFCCC Convention, which came into force in 1995 but was not in the Annex 1 group that was forced to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Nevertheless, Thailand must report the amount of greenhouse gas emissions and include the approaches to managing climate change as in the countries in Annex 1. Thailand also had implemented many projects and developed various mechanisms to earn more carbon credits over the past years, which were intended to be sold to countries in Annex 1 as another way of generating income. However, a scarcity of knowledge and a delayed action related to any protocols caused the growth of the carbon credit market in Thailand to be relatively slow when compared to other countries in Asia.