Skills for green jobs in Thailand Unedited background country study Areeya Rojvithee ILO Skills and Employability Department 2010 Copyright © International Labour Organization 2010 First published 2010 Publications of the International Labour Office enjoy copyright under Protocol 2 of the Universal Copyright Convention. Nevertheless, short excerpts from them may be reproduced without authorization, on condition that the source is indicated. For rights of reproduction or translation, application should be made to ILO Publications (Rights and Permissions), International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, or by email: [email protected]. The International Labour Office welcomes such applications. Libraries, institutions and other users registered with reproduction rights organizations may make copies in accordance with the licences issued to them for this purpose. Visit http://www.ifrro.org to find the reproduction rights organization in your country. ILO Cataloguing in Publication Data Rojvithee, Areeya Skills for green jobs in Thailand : unedited background country study / Areeya Rojvithee ; International Labour Office, Skills and Employability Department. - Geneva: ILO, 2010 1 v. ISBN: 9789221239918 (web pdf) International Labour Office; Skills and Employability Dept skill / skill requirements / vocational training / training needs / green jobs / employment creation / climate change / environmental protection / Thailand 13.02.2 The designations employed in ILO publications, which are in conformity with United Nations practice, and the presentation of material therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the International Labour Office concerning the legal status of any country, area or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. 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Catalogues or lists of new publications are available free of charge from the above address, or by email: [email protected] Visit our web site: http://www.ilo.org/publns Contents Foreword ...................................................................................................................................... vii Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... ix Executive summary ....................................................................................................................... xi Abbreviations and acronyms ...................................................................................................... xiii 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 2. Policy context....................................................................................................................... 2 2.1 Key challenges and priorities for a green economy in the context of Thailand .......... 2 2.2 The response strategy .................................................................................................. 3 2.2.1 General environmental strategy ..................................................................... 3 2.2.2 Green response to the current economic crisis .............................................. 6 2.3 Skills development strategies in response to greening ............................................... 8 3. Anticipation and provision of skills .................................................................................... 13 3.1 Green structural change and retraining needs .......................................................... 13 3.1.1 Green restructuring and its impact on the labour market ............................ 13 3.1.2 Identification of (re)training needs ............................................................... 14 3.1.3 Skills response ............................................................................................... 15 3.1.4 Case studies ................................................................................................... 17 3.2 New and changing skills needs .................................................................................. 19 3.2.1 New green collar occupations ....................................................................... 19 3.2.2 Greening existing occupations ...................................................................... 20 3.2.3 Identification of skill needs ........................................................................... 26 3.2.4 Skills response ............................................................................................... 27 3.2.5 Case studies on new green collar occupations ............................................. 30 3.2.6 Case studies on greening existing occupations ............................................. 32 4. Conclusions ........................................................................................................................ 35 4.1 Main greening shifts in economic and labour markets ............................................. 35 4.2 Skills implications and development.......................................................................... 35 4.2.1 Anticipation and identification of skill needs ................................................ 35 4.2.2 Response policies and programmes ............................................................. 35 4.2.3 Effective delivery mechanisms ...................................................................... 36 5. Recommendations ............................................................................................................. 37 iii 5.1 Policy recommendations ........................................................................................... 37 5.2 Recommendations for education and training .......................................................... 37 5.3 Recommendations for further research and data collection .................................... 37 References and bibliography ....................................................................................................... 39 List of key resource persons ........................................................................................................ 41 Appendix 1. Thailand’s energy situation ...................................................................................... 43 Appendix 2. Thailand’s Constitution ............................................................................................ 51 Appendix 3. Department of Alternative Energy and Efficiency (DEDE) Four-Year Action Plan (2008-2011) .................................................................................................................................. 53 Appendix 4. DEDE training ........................................................................................................... 70 Appendix 5. Energy Conservation Building in Honour of His Majesty the King ........................... 72 List of tables Table 1. Government initiatives for capacity building to sustain growth ...................................... 7 Table 2. Thailand’s labour force (millions) ..................................................................................... 8 Table 3. BGET performed trainings .............................................................................................. 30 Table 4. Energy consumption by resources (1 st Quarters 2007-09) ............................................ 45 Table 5. Energy consumption by economic sectors (1 st Quarters 2007-09) ................................ 45 Table 6. Energy production (1 st Quarters 2007-09) ..................................................................... 46 Table 7. Energy import (1 st Quarters 2007-09) ............................................................................ 46 Table 8. Energy export (1st Quarters 2007-09) ........................................................................... 47 Table 9. Alternative energy use (1 st Quarters 2007-09) ............................................................... 48 Table 10. GHG emissions by sector (2002-06) ............................................................................. 49 Table 11. Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand in relation to current government policy ... 51 List of figures Figure 1. Formation of the new green collar occupations of the Ministry of Energy .................. 31 Figure 2. Energy consumption (1 st Quarter 2009) ....................................................................... 43 iv Figure 3. Energy production, import and export (1 st Quarters 2007-09) .................................... 44 Figure 4. Oil production, power generation by fuels, alternative energy use (1 st Quarters 2007-09) ......................................................................................................................................