The inaugural awards were organised by the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM), a global forum for ministerial-level cooperation on clean energy, in partnership with the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW). They recognise initiatives that advance sustainable lifestyles, promote fairness and expand access to clean energy technologies. An independent international jury selected the winners across three categories: Policy Innovation, People & Communities, and Systems & Sector. The awards highlight initiatives that deliver tangible results and can serve as models for wider adoption.
EA's Bangkok E-Bus Programme replaces fossil fuel-powered public buses in Bangkok and its surrounding metropolitan area with more than 2,000 electric buses. Serving over 122 routes and around 400,000 passengers a day, the programme helps reduce PM2.5 pollution and urban noise while making clean public transport a practical and accessible choice for everyday travel.
The programme also made history as the world's first project to issue and transfer carbon credits in the form of Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) for use towards national emissions reduction targets under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement, through cooperation between Thailand and Switzerland. Cumulative deliveries have reached 108,960 ITMOs, representing emission reductions of 108,960 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. This achievement reflects EA's vision of connecting electric bus deployment with international carbon markets, enabling verified emission reductions from actual bus operations to generate economic value.
Mr Chatrapon Sripratum, Chief Executive Officer of Energy Absolute Public Company Limited, said:
"EA believes that clean energy should deliver benefits people can experience first-hand. Together with our partners, we have brought electric buses into everyday service while developing carbon credit sales from the programme's emission reductions. This award recognises the vision we have worked together to put into practice. It also demonstrates how people can help reduce pollution and fossil fuel consumption through their daily journeys, while building greater understanding and awareness of the benefits of clean energy through direct experience.
We and our partners recognise our responsibility to the hundreds of thousands of people who rely on these services every day to get to work, attend school and go about their lives. Despite the costs we continue to shoulder and the challenges in achieving financial returns, we continue to support these services. Their benefits extend across mobility, air quality and quality of life in our cities, creating value shared by society as a whole.
I would like to thank all our partners and teams for making this programme possible. Scaling up clean public transport sustainably requires collaboration and support mechanisms that recognise its benefits for people and the environment. It also requires conditions that enable operators to improve service quality and maintain services over the long term. EA is ready to build on the experience gained from this programme to help advance Thailand's transition to electric vehicles and support its goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050."