The carbon credit market is growing rapidly, indicating an opportunity to increase the value of agricultural and export products as well as reduce carbon emissions, according to the Trade Policy and Strategy Office (TPSO) under the Commerce Ministry.
Poonpong Naiyanapakorn, TPSO director-general, said the office is monitoring the carbon credit market, which aims to reduce the environmental impact of greenhouse gas emissions.
TPSO found many countries have implemented strategies and measures to control carbon emissions, including carbon taxes on domestic businesses or imported goods with high carbon emissions during production.
This resulted in the development of the voluntary carbon market, where businesses with high carbon emissions can buy carbon credits to offset their carbon emissions, leading to quick market growth.
In 2020, the voluntary carbon market was worth up to US$1.98 billion, with the market value expected to reach $25 trillion by 2030.
According to Mr Poonpong, demand for carbon credits could be worth as much as $30-50 billion now that carbon credit trading is popular in many countries.
For example, the European Union (EU) is considered the most advanced carbon market. The EU Emission Trading Scheme allows trade of emission allowances for greenhouse gases in Europe, which refers to the amount of greenhouse gases that are allowed to be released.
The EU also introduced the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism to reduce carbon emissions, slated to be implemented between this year and 2026.
In addition, the bloc implemented measures to reduce emissions in transport, including airplanes, ships, cars, agricultural equipment and waste management.
The US is considering the Clean Competition Act, which aims to impose a carbon tax on products manufactured with high carbon emissions, collected from US manufacturers and importers of goods, expected to begin in 2026.
China is expected to become the world's largest carbon producer. In 2019, it released more than 27% of the world's total pollutants, or more than 10 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide. This should lead to high demand for carbon credits in China, accelerating the growth of the global market, he said.
In 2016, Thailand emitted more than 350 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e). The nation began selling carbon credits two years earlier in a voluntary carbon market called Thailand Voluntary Emission Reduction (T-VERs).
Although the trade volume of T-VERs is small, accounting for 7.61% of the global volume, it is growing rapidly. Last year volume reached 1.19 million tCO2e, an increase of 314% from the year before, with a value of 129 million baht, up 1,223%, and an average price per tonne of 108.22 baht, a gain of 219%.
Based on data from 2020, 81 organisations in Thailand emitted an average of 160 million tCO2e per year.
If these organisations aim to become carbon-neutral, the demand for carbon credits to offset their emissions from 2020 to 2030 could reach as high as 1.6 billion tCO2e, said Mr Poonpong.