Adoption of the low carbon society policy in locally-governed urban areas: experience from Thai municipalities

Low Carbon Society (LCS) has emerged as a holistic approach to reduce carbon (C) emissions that result from human activities. Although there has been successful implementation of the LCS approach in some cities of developed countries, it is more difficult in developing countries like Thailand. The objectives of this paper are to present drivers and barriers affecting the abilities of three regional cities of Thailand to combine LCS activities with their strategies. Lessons learned from this study will allow for sharing these experiences with municipalities in other developing countries. This research was based on interviews of key informants representing state agencies and local public service associations. It was found that no particular driver significantly influenced local government agencies to implement LCS activities. Conversely, there were financial and managerial barriers to implementing (C) reduction activities. This paper identifies the need for more specific and tailor-made assistance to allow urban municipalities to shift towards LCS activities by considering their individual strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, stakeholders’ understanding of the advantages of implementing LCS activities within locally governed areas was found to be critical for success. The paper concludes that climate change mitigation activities not only reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions but also produce tangible benefits such as improvement the quality of life of people. Such an approach can motivate stakeholders to pursue LCS as a shared goal.