CSOs urge AIIB to not fund 1.4 GW gas project in Thailand

Over 50 CSOs, including Recourse, have written to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), calling for an immediate reconsideration of the proposed financing for the Hin Kong 1.4 GW gas power project in Thailand. The project, which also includes a new 33 km gas pipeline, is labelled Category A by the AIIB, with likely “significant adverse environmental and social impacts that are irreversible, cumulative, diverse or unprecedented“. The Asian Development Bank and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency have already pulled out of the project, yet despite the significant concerns AIIB is scheduled to approve the funding already in February 2022.

The letter points to significant flaws in the project due diligence, including lack of considerations of the disturbing track record of the project’s sponsoring entity, Hin Kong Power Company, and misalignment with current national and international energy goals and climate and pandemic related contexts. The signatories urge the AIIB to cancel the project and instead support borrowing member countries to rapidly scale up options for locally relevant and decentralised renewable energy.

Read the full letter in English and in Thai.