As part of a regional initiative to advance methane reduction across ASEAN member states, the project supports Thailand in developing a methane reduction plan aligned with national circumstances. Methane is a short-lived but potent greenhouse gas that accounted for 23% of Thailand’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2022—nearly two-thirds of it from agriculture and about a quarter from waste—so cutting it delivers fast, high-impact climate gains. The project supports the mitigation priorities of Thailand’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC 3.0), which is a plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions 47% by 2035 from 2019 levels. These priorities include alternate wetting and drying irrigation and improved livestock feed. The project also contributes to ASEAN’s regional cooperation on methane mitigation.

The project engages stakeholders in priority sectors where methane emissions are concentrated: agriculture, waste, and energy. It aims to support these stakeholders with developing and implementing national methane mitigation strategy and measures

This project aims to support Thailand’s efforts to reduce methane emissions. In doing so, it focuses on the following objectives:

– Developing enabling policies and institutional arrangements

– Improving the measurement of methane emissions

– Designing and implementing methane mitigation projects through pilot and feasibility activities

– Promoting knowledge sharing and regional cooperation on methane mitigation across ASEAN.

The project’s direct beneficiaries include officials from DCCE and from energy, agriculture, and waste sector agencies who take part in its capacity-building activities, together with dairy farmers and landfill owners participating in the project.

Reducing methane emissions in dairy cows

Did you know that whenever dairy cows burp, they emit a potent greenhouse gas—methane—produced during enteric fermentation? Addressing this challenge requires scalable and sustainable methane reduction measures in livestock.

To address this, the ASEAN-Korea Cooperation on Methane Mitigation (AKCMM) project in Thailand has worked with dairy farmers in the northeastern region, with support from the Department of Climate Change and Environment (DCCE), the Department of Livestock Development (DLD), and Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna, to conduct on-farm and on-station methane emission reduction testing.

Under on-station controlled conditions using respiratory head-hood chambers, the project will gather scientific emission reduction data. The on-farm testing will provide dairy cows in designated farm settings with selected methane-reducing feed additives and supplements. The project will then assess methane reduction performance as well as dairy cow productivity, including milk yield and quality.

This testing serves as a feasibility study to assess the technical and financial viability of the solution. Findings from the study will provide robust evidence to inform decision-makers about the potential scalability and market applicability of the solution. Ultimately, it will support Thailand’s efforts to reduce methane emissions from the livestock sub-sector.

Livestock, along with rice cultivation, are the main contributors to methane emissions in Thailand’s agriculture sector, which accounts for about 64% of the country’s total methane emissions. Within that sector, enteric fermentation released about 18,347 ktCO₂eq in 2022 (roughly a fifth of national methane), second only to rice cultivation—making livestock a clear priority for scalable mitigation.

Increased average temperatures, rapid sea level rise, and higher flood levels are among the key climate change-induced challenges faced by Southeast Asian countries.

As a party to the Paris agreement, Thailand is determined to enhance its efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and address the impacts of climate change. Methane emissions reduction is one of the country’s priorities.

In 2022, methane accounted for 23% of Thailand’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Thailand’s methane emissions are concentrated in the agriculture sector, reflecting the large contribution from rice cultivation and livestock. The waste sector is the second largest source, driven primarily by solid waste disposal and wastewater treatment. Methane emissions from the energy sector are comparatively smaller and have declined over time.

However, the country faces key challenges in addressing methane emissions. For  example, smallholders and medium-scale farmers face financial and structural barriers that prevent the adoption of low-emission practices.  Meanwhile, municipal solid waste management and wastewater treatment systems still require improvement. For example, Thailand produced 28 million tons of solid waste in 2025, of which 22% was mismanaged.

In response, Thailand is committed to reducing methane emissions in agriculture and waste management, advancing the clean energy transition, and strengthening greenhouse gas accounting and reporting systems.

A strong foundation for large-scale methane emissions reduction established through the following results:

Enabling policies and institutional arrangements

– Thailand’s national methane reduction plan developed

– Thailand’s Methane Reduction Committee established and operationalized

– Capacity of stakeholders enhanced

Improved methane emissions measurement

– Information gaps and constraints in methane emissions measurement, reporting, and verification identified – including that key sources as rice cultivation, wastewater and natural gas are still estimated with default (Tier 1) methods, with an action plan developed and implemented to address them

– Transparency in national measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of methane enhanced which includes support of development of time-series and NDC Tracking system.

Scalable and sustainable methane emissions reduction solutions

– The technical and financial feasibility of selected enteric fermentation methane mitigation measures for dairy cows evaluated

– Decision-makers informed about potential scalability and market applicability of the mitigation measures in the livestock sub-sector

– On-the-ground solid waste management project with scalable and sustainable methane reduction solutions supported.

Strengthened regional knowledge sharing and cooperation

– Knowledge shared through the ASEAN knowledge platform