Well, this year Bangkok is hosting a large conference about climate change, and policy makers, scientists, and activists from all over are in attendance debating what needs to be done with global warming. The five-day event, Climate Action Summit 2024, is designed to advance greenhouse gas emission reductions and strengthen climate change response.

More than 2000 delegates from 150 countries are attending the event at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center , where more than 20 session started yesterday with a message from UN Secretary-General António Guterres cautioning that time was running out to halt climate change. “This is the code red for humanity,” Guterres said in his opening speech. “These are multiple types suggesting that we are right at a precipice which, if crossed, can lead to more disastrous and irreversible effects of climate change.”

The conference could not have come at a better time since latest figures indicate that temperatures in all regions of the world are again on the rise. In the view of the head of the World Meteorological Organization, 2023 year was the warmest one known to mankind and unprecedented catastrophes took place in a number of countries of the world.

One of the aspects highlighted at the summit is the practical efforts towards the fulfillment of the objectives of the Agreement reached at the Paris Climate Conference. Ministers and negotiators are now being encouraged to up ambitious targets in their individual country and boost the shift to renewable energy.

During his opening remark, Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin talked about the country’s target for net zero carbon by the year 2050. He said Thailand plans to boost its goal for renewable energy power generation to 50 percent by 2030 instead of 30 percent.

“Thailand is ready to join the other international community to fight this global concern,” said Srettha. In this context, it was concluded: “We have to take actions that will save our planet for our posterity.”

The conference has also awakened the world to the fact that Southeast Asian countries are among the most vulnerable to climate change. In a new report launched at the summit, researchers say economic and social systems may be ‘deeplyCity scaled’ if further adaptation is not made.

As Dr. Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development pointed out: It is very important that developing countries regularly receive climate finance. He said: “We really require a massive increase in funding for mitigation and adaptation in the countries of the global south.”

Some very important statements have already been made at the conference. An alliance of 20 countries has promised to tripple their spending on renewable power generation research in the next five years. At the same time, a selection of core banking and financial institutions pledged to shift their credit and investment portfolios towards net zero emissions.

Environmental campaigners have planned several protests near Bangkok to coincide with the summit, asking for global leaders and corporations to step up efforts to tackle the global warming crisis. A march through the streets of the city centre yesterday involved thousands of participants, some of them young people worried about their future.

The conference has begun the momentum but some people doubt can we see long-term results from the conference. Many grand promises have been made verbal at such summits said Dr Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist based in Chulalongkorn University. “The real test will be in implementation and the follow-up.”

Although some progress has been made during the conference, the participants are still trying to hammer out a joint declaration with the commitments themselves and potential goals. Based on the subjects to be discussed and negotiated in the summit, the success or otherwise of the summit is likely to be measured by the ability of the leaders to arrive at agreements that will mean action on climate change.

This week it is Bangkok where leaders are facing one of the most significant issues of the current epoch. The decisions made at this conference could go along way towards determining how the future international reactions to climate change will look like.