Public participation, land use and climate change governance in Thailand

TitlePublic participation, land use and climate change governance in Thailand
Annotated RecordAnnotated
Year of Publication2016
AuthorsKabiri N
Secondary TitleLand Use Policy
Volume52
Pagination511-517
PublisherElsevier Ltd
Key themesCivilSociety-Donors, Environment, Policy-law
Abstract

Environmental governance in the context of climate change and land use is examined with the aim of specifying the conditions under which the incorporation of effective public participation in the governance process can be achieved. This is done through an examination of the preferences of the actors involved, an analysis of the land use issues in climate change governance in Thailand, the extant institutional arrangements for public participation, the difficulties of implementing effective public participation, and possible ways of mitigating these challenges. As climate change governance is a highly problematic arena, successful incorporation of public participation in this sector could point to the potential of extending these conditions into other sectors of environmental governance.
URLhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837715000563
Availability

Copyrighted journal article
Countries

Thailand
Document Type

Journal Article

Annotations

Overall relevance: 

The paper investigates the unfolding climate change governance regime in Thailand with an emphasis on land use and public participation. It is argued that there are land use issues of concern to local communities likely to be affected by REDD+ projects and that there is, therefore, a credible case for the involvement of these communities in the projects. It is further shown that institution promises do not deliver on increasing community involvement. In order to institutionalize structured public participation into climate change governance, an active internal demand by, for example, CSOs is crucial. If this finding can be bolstered by experiences from other emerging REDD+ states, this can help suggest conditions under which effective public participation can be achieved

Key Themes: 
  • Civil society and donor engagement in land issues - Public participation in this paper is taken to be a process whereby non-state actors in Thailand take part in decision-making and implementation (which may include monitoring and evaluation) of land use related climate change activities. It contains three facets, namely: access to information, involvement in the decision-making process, and access to justice. CSOs are a key actor in climate change governance. They take part in decision-making and the implementation of activities related to climate change and land use. In Thailand, donor agencies can be conceptualized as dispensers of justice
  • Land and the environment: pollution, deforestation, climate change, conservation zoning - Climate change in agrarian societies entails both mitigation and adaptation costs under conditions of inadequate resources. In particular, the costs of mitigation projects can impact upon community livelihoods, demanding a need for public participation. Emerging experiences of Thai climate change governance suggest that where a project prioritizes public participation, and there is public demand for such participation, there is a higher likelihood that the state will take it seriously. Nevertheless, past Thai experiences, especially in biodiversity conservation, showed state tendencies to ignore communities and their land rights when implementing conservation projects
Research basis: 

The study is based on interviews and content analysis of both primary and secondary literature. The interviews were conducted with four CSOs in Bangkok who are involved in climate change governance in Thailand. The CSOs were selected to represent broad characteristics such as community (Seub Western Forest Complex – Seub), national advocacy (Thai Working Group on Climate Justice – TCJ), INGOs (The Regional Community Forestry Training Center – RECOFTC), and donor capacity-building programs (Lowering Emissions in Asia’s Forests – LEAF). Primary data utilized included pamphlets, websites, and CSO promotional material. Secondary literature included material on environmental governance in general. (Provided by Chau My Duyen)