Vietnam has achieved important milestones in climate climate change response and met international requirements over the last years, said Jörg Rüger, first secretary for the Environment at the German Embassy. Rüger made the statement at the summary workshop of the “Creation of an Overarching Framework for Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions in Vietnam,” or NAMA Project in short, held by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) on October 30 in Hanoi.
The NAMA project was jointly implemented by the Viet Nam Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Climate Change (IMHEN) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). It was implemented from 2014 to 2018 through the International Climate Initiative (IKI) funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Security with a budget of EUR4.6 million.
The NAMA Project has been working for four years in Vietnam on climate change-related issues.
Rüger said the elements which made this project special was its comprehensive nature, adding that it is crucial work Vietnam had done to identify the most suitable institutional structures and arrangements in the government to facilitate the development and implementation of such mitigation actions.
The overview of the workshop. Photo: Nguyen Ngan
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He noted that the “Low-Carbon Bus NAMA” will make an essential contribution to improving public transport, and thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation.
The newly developed “NAMA for the textile and garment sector” provides a comprehensive concept for how and with which measures substantial energy savings can be achieved, Jörg Rüger said.
Finally, as important as the actions themselves, it is key to track and monitor the greenhouse gas emissions in Vietnam, Jörg Rüger added. “I am all the happier that you will continue your work under the new MONRE-GIZ Project, which is Support to Vietnam for the Implementation of the Paris Agreement or SIPA Project in short.”
For his part, Vice Minister of MONRE Le Cong Thanh said: “Vietnam has set itself ambitious climate targets to appropriately contribute to the global Paris Climate Agreement that we ratified in 2016.”
“The NAMA Project was vital to us in formulating these targets and respective policies, and prepared us for their implementation. The continued support enabled us to strengthen Vietnam´s position in international climate policy,” Thanh added.
“Another crucial outcome of the NAMA Project is the successful establishment of a monitoring framework that allows the tracking of achievements in climate policy cross sectors and ministries. This tool empowers Vietnam to systematically track progress on their national climate change targets and polices. It also enables an effective inter-ministerial coordination,” Thanh stressed.
Chief Technical Advisor of the NAMA Project Anna Pia Schreyögg detailed that the major achievement of the project is the development of two concrete climate actions that aim at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The first NAMA’s target is the development of a climate-friendly bus infrastructure for big cities. The second focuses on the application of energy efficiency measures and solar power in the textile industry.
Together, these two climate actions have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 17 million tones of CO2 by 2030. They also have the potential to increase competitiveness, create jobs, ensure energy security and resource efficiency, and reduce environmental pollution in Vietnam, Schreyögg noted.
Concluding the workshop, Vice Minister of MONRE Le Cong Thanh emphasized that climate change is a critical issue for all countries and requires the determination and great efforts of all nations, territories and regions all over the world.
Thanh noted that as a country seriously affected by climate change, Vietnam has always been active in implementing international commitments and climate change response efforts. With the close cooperation between IMHEN and GIZ, the project has achieved its objectives and contributed significantly to Vietnam’s efforts in responding to climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“I strongly hope that ministries, agencies, development partners, enterprises, non-governmental organizations and all of you will continue to closely cooperate with and give further support to climate change response in Vietnam in general and MONRE in particular,” Thanh concluded.
