By the Thai Working Group for Climate Justice (TCJ)
and the Thai Community Networks
Bangkok,  4 October 2009
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Injustice that the industrial and energy sector, both private corporations and state enterprises, e.g. PTT, EGATT, Chevron, IRPC, ECCO and other fossil fuel firms continuously emit the greenhouse gases, leading to the crisis of global warming, but they  have themselves never been suffered the impact of their deeds;

Injustice that these corporations and agencies have never been punished. In fact they receive endless privileges of promotion from the State.  For example, the national Power  Development Plan (PDP) keep its firm policy to further construct over ten  new coal-fired power plants and at least other four nuclear power plants;

Injustice that even though the worst pollution impacts on environment and people caused by industrial development, e.g. at  the Map Ta Phut area, have never been able to cope with by all existing resorts, these lessons have never been learnt of. The government ignores to review patterns of heavy industrial promotion. Thailand will become a pollution junkyard finally.  

Injustice that local communities, indigenous and tribal peoples who have been living, farming, and caring  in the forestry areas for generations with their precious local wisdom handed down through the ages, now are forced  to be criminals by the state, are accused of deforestation doers, and are causes of global warming.  Many families have been against with lawsuits and some have been legally charged with millions baht by the state-forced guilty.        

Injustice that the fishing communities who are the frontline of climate victims have never  been listened to. Their rights to manage coastal resources have not been recognized.  Moreover the industrial developmental projects in the southern coasts of Thailand is  aggravating to their plights caused by the impacts of global warming.

Injustice that the small-scale farmers who practice sustainable ways of agriculture to produce a healthier food for all. But the sustainable agricultural pattern has never  been officially promoted by the State. Worse is that their small pieces of land are at risk to be seized for carbon sequestration.       

Injustice that the industrial farming sector is always gone scot-free, and have never taken  responsibilities to their emission of greenhouse gases.  

Injustice that communities who have tried to develop renewable energies have not been supported properly either at the local or policy level.


To reclaim the climate justice, we demand the Government to:
 

1. Create justice in development by allowing the people to participate in developmental policy making process, in reviewing the national developmental direction, and recognize people rights to monitor and investigate the developmental implementation;  
2. Review and reorient towards sustainable development approaches, and phase-out the fossil fuel dependence;
3. Review the Power Development Plan (PDP) and make serious efforts to promote and support renewable energies;
4. Put on hold the REDD mechanism, and give a proper recognition to local communities’ rights to manage land and forest resources;
5. Recognize the fisher-folk’s community rights and support their involvement in sustainable coastal resource management;
6. Review the national energy development plan and the southern coastal industrial development policies;
7. Stop all aggressive developmental projects which do more harm than good to local communities’ adaption ability to climate crisis, and replacing with comprehensive supports to the local communities’ capacity and ways of thinking to run their existing sustainable economic developmental activities;   
8. Promote and support sustainable agricultural systems and integrated farming systems - the production mode which are in more harmony with the local ecological system and will be more useful to develop a friendly carbon sequestration process;
9. Take serious action to promote the energy management by communities and have it developed further at the national policy making level.

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