Governor Apirak Kosayodhin said yesterday that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) next Wednesday would sign the Bangkok Declaration on Mitigation of Climate Change with 23 public and private organisations at the UN building.

Anond Snidvongs, a climate change expert at Chulalongkorn University, said Bangkok was a major source of greenhouse gases in the country, as 30-50 per cent of total energy consumption was concentrated in the city.

Statistics show that last year Bangkok residents devoured 206 million kilowatts of electricity, 34 million litres of oil, 400,000 litres of gasohol and 25,000 kilograms of natural gas.

Joining with the BMA are the Metropolitan Electricity Authority and the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency.

After the declaration is signed, a campaign to alert city-dwellers to rising world temperatures around the world will be launched.

Apirak also called on households to turn off all electrical appliances next Wednesday at 7pm. "We will show Bangkokians how much energy we can save by not consuming electricity for 15 minutes," he said

The Bangkok Declaration outlines five ways to mitigate global warming - reduce energy and natural resources consumption, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote lifestyles that uphold the sufficiency economy, promote activities that help absorb greenhouse gases and build public awareness of global warming.

The summit of the Intergovernmetal Panel on Climate Change will end today. Its resolution will be discussed at the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit in New York in two weeks. Bangkok will be among the cities represented.

Jeerawan Prasomsap, 

Pennapa Hongthong

The Nation