As delivered

(Unofficial Translation)
Statement by H.E. General Prayut Chan-o-cha,
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand 
at the Leaders Dialogue I, United Nations Summit on Biodiversity,
30 September 2020,  New York, the United States of America

Theme : “Addressing biodiversity loss and mainstreaming biodiversity for sustainable development”

Mr. President,

1. It is my great pleasure to give a statement on this significant occasion of the Summit on Biodiversity. At present, we are facing a global crisis regarding the decline and loss of biodiversity in all areas mostly as the result of humans and climate change. This challenge has impacts on every life.
2. Thailand is one of the most highly biodiverse countries in the world. Unfortunately, human activities such as land encroachment and the overexploitation of natural resources for economic purposes have led to biodiversity loss. Recognizing the consequences, we have prepared ourselves for the changing environmental situation as follows:

        Firstly, Thailand has the policies to conserve, protect, restore, arrange for the sustainable use of biodiversity, as well as integrate biodiversity issues into the Constitution. The National Biodiversity Strategic and Action Plan has been developed to achieve the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Sustainable Development Goals.

        Secondly, Thailand emphasizes the importance of all stakeholders including the private sector and civil society as a key to success, and promotes a whole-of-government approach at all levels to overcome the biodiversity loss and encourage sustainable use. We are in the process of drafting the National Biodiversity Act.

        Thirdly, we have learned from COVID-19 that when people keep their distance from nature, nature and the ecosystem can recover themselves. So, Thailand is preparing the annual plan to temporarily close the national parks in the country for 3 months each year. This is intended to promote the recovery of the natural forest and wildlife species and will involve the management of activities and the limiting number of tourists.

3. Moreover, Thailand is launching the Bio-Circular-Green Economy model, which is expected to distribute fair and equitable income, reduce inequalities in access to natural resources, and encourage people to live in harmony with nature.
   
   
4. Finally, the Royal Thai Government reaffirms that we will maximise our efforts to solve the biodiversity problems and call for all countries to work together to conserve our biodiversity and the environment through multilateral processes. I hope that the negotiations of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework can be successfully concluded next year, to be the framework to protect our biodiversity for the present and future generations.

Thank you.

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