Climate change and extreme weather situations have no boundaries and impact everyone in the world. To mitigate the onset of these global catastrophes, we need urgent and meaningful international collaboration as called upon in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change under “Common but differentiated responsibilities” and respective capabilities, in light of different national circumstances. At present, the legally binding international treaty on climate change is the “Paris Agreement”, adopted by 196 state parties at the 21st Conference of the Parties in Paris, France, on 12 December 2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016.

Following the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26) in November 2021, almost 200 countries, including Thailand, announced their climate goals and made commitments to tackle climate change. Thailand has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050 and reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2065. To support the government’s policy in this direction, various government agencies and public organizations, such as the Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization, have been actively progressing efforts to realize Thailand’s sustainability goals through various schemes and measures that they are empowered to do under the relevant laws.

In this article, we will discuss the underpinnings of the European Union’s ambitious plan, the “European Union Green Deal”, an agenda to advance the sustainability of member economies and have far-reaching implications for Asia Pacific and Thailand in particular. Given the stringent environmental, sustainability, and other regulatory standards in the EU Green Deal’s Sustainable Products Initiative, it is essential that businesses in Asia Pacific monitor the targets and ambitions of the EU Green Deal to be prepared to comply with higher standards for imports into the EU.