Vietnam is considered to be one of the countries severely affected by the adverse effects of climate change and determined to respond to climate change as the responsibility of the entire political system. To address the above problem, several policies related to climate change adaptation, including GHG emissions reduction, have been issued. At the national level, several important policies related to GHG emission reduction have been developed and implemented such as National Strategy on Climate Change in 2011, National Strategy for Green Growth in 2012, Resolution No.24-NQ/TW of the Central Executive Committee on a proactive response to climate change, strengthening resource management and environmental protection in 2013, etc. Based on these policies, a series of sectoral and local action plans have been issued and implemented. Those mitigation implementations so far have achieved many positive results.

Measures and actions to reduce GHG emissions are carried out at different scales from national to project levels through the implementation of specific strategies, programs, plans, and activities as well as implementing GHG emission reduction activities such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM), etc. Role, functions, tasks and organizational structure of state management on variables climate change in general, on reducing GHG emissions in particular has stepped up from the central to local levels.

On September 25, 2015, Vietnam submitted to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) with the goal of 2030, reducing 8% of GHG emissions compared to the BAU scenario by using domestic resources and can be increased up to 25% if fully receiving financial support, technology and capacity building from the international community. Not long after that, the Government of Vietnam officially approved the Paris Agreement on climate change in the Resolution No.93/NQ-CP dated October 31, 2016. Since the Paris Agreement officially has come into effect, Vietnam’s INDC became its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). The objective of reducing GHG emissions defined in the NDC is considered Vietnam’s commitment to the world in responding to climate change. Vietnam will deal with those goals from voluntary mode as ever before to mandatory one starting in 2021. However, to achieve the commitments under the NDC, Vietnam needs to soon formulate and promulgate legal documents to adjust measures and activities to reduce GHG emissions, and at the same time be a basis for adjusting and overcoming shortcomings and limiting in the past.

Under this context, a year before the Paris Climate Change Agreement was born, since 2014 the Government of Vietnam has tried to set a roadmap towards the goal of reducing global GHG emissions in cooperation with the international community. This is reflected in paragraph 2, Article 48 of the Law on Environmental Protection in 2014, which defined that the Government of Vietnam will set the roadmap/roadmap for Vietnam to participate in global GHG mitigation activities by legalizing it in a Government’s Decree. That move will provide strong enough legal power for the set-out mitigation roadmap. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Vietnam had been assigned to cooperate with other related stakeholders for developing that Decree. This developing Decree should follow the orientations to ensure conformity with Vietnam’s recent socio-economic conditions and commitments in international treaties to which Vietnam is a member. This work has carried in the time of Vietnam’s INDC development. The expected roadmap is as follows:

• By 2025, reduce 6.6% of GHG emissions compared to the BAU scenario. The GHG emission reduction targets will be divided as follows 2.3% for the Industry and Trade sector; 0.5% for the Transportation sector; 0.8% for the Construction sector; and the 3% for Agriculture and Rural Development sector.
• By 2030: reduce 8% of GHG emissions compared to the BAU scenario. The GHG emission reduction targets will be divided as follows 2.7% for the Industry and Trade sector; 0.6% for the Transportation sector; 1.1% for the Construction sector; and the 3.6% for Agriculture and Rural Development sector.
• Roadmap for mitigation for the period of 2030 to 2050 has been researched, analyzed and calculated based on the revising of the National Strategy on Climate Change, National Strategy on Green Growth, and other strategies, Sectoral plans. The mitigation roadmap for the post-2030 period is proposed to reduce GHG emissions annually from 1.5 – 2% more and will achieve a minimum GHG reduction target by 2050 of 45% compared to the total GHG emissions identified in the BAU scenario of Vietnam. One of the main measurements is to raise the proportion of renewable energy in total primary energy consumption up to at least 44%.

To ensure transparency, National GHG inventory, measurement system – report – verification (MRV) at national, sectoral, local levels will be developed and operated.

The draft of Vietnam’s mitigation roadmap Decree has been consulted with ministries, branches, People’s Committees of provinces, central cities, and the public nationwide. However, so far after many revisions, the Decree has not yet been issued. The two main causes of this delay are:

1) Guidelines for the full implementation of the provisions of the Paris Agreement have not yet been adopted due to divisions among countries in the negotiations. This makes it difficult for developing countries like Vietnam to develop and implement domestic compliance policies accordingly to fulfill their commitments.

2) The establishment of such a mitigation roadmap can cause a great impact on Vietnam’s socio-economic development as the goals themselves required a great deal of resources and have a significant impact on the development of Vietnam’s economic sectors.

This postponement is necessary because the roadmap will service not only to meet the commitments of Vietnam under its NDC but also to pursues sustainable development. Vietnam is conducting a review and update of the NDC, which is expected to be completed before the end of 2020 based on the latest data and information. Under the related provision of the Paris Agreement and its adopted guidelines, the level of commitment in the updated NDC cannot be lower than the committed ones in the previous NDC. Therefore, ministries and branches can review and revise their mitigation plans but the mitigation targets of each sector in the updated NDC must also not be lower than the ones in the submitted NDC. That is, changing the emission level (if any) in the updated NDC will not affect the aforementioned roadmap.

Although many uncertain factors can affect the timetable targets of the roadmap, the roadmap obviously will be issued soon because its promulgation will help handling issues raised due to the shortcomings as well as achieving Vietnam’s international commitments on mitigation in the medium and long terms. Early identification of the mitigation roadmap will also help Vietnam’s ministries, sectors and localities to take develop and take necessary steps to adjust their development plans for better contributing to Vietnam’s long term mitigation targets.

Source:

1. Vietnam’s National assembly, 2014 – Law on environment protection no. 55/2014/QH13
2. Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Vietnam, 2015 Technical report of Vietnam’s intended nationally determined contribution

About the Author

Tran Ha Ninh

Project Officer of Department of Climate Change, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Vietnam

Focal Person of Vietnam on Climate Change for ACCEPT

I was born in 1983. I graduated from my college in 2004 with a biotechnology engineering degree and earned my master degree in biology in 2010. From 2004 to 2010, I was a researcher at the Environmental technology institute, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology. From 2010 to now, I have served as a project officer at the Department of Climate Change, Ministry of Natural resources and Environment of Vietnam. I have good knowledge of applying microbiology technology in environmental protection; assessing environment impacts; GHG inventory and mitigation modelling. Since 2017, I have been involving the team for developing Vietnam national reports namely the Initial and Second Biennial Updated Reports of Viet Nam to the UNFCCC and the Third National Communication under UNFCCC. At the moment, I am one of the national core team to develop the Third Biennial Updated Reports of Viet Nam. I am one of the UNFCCCC Roster of Experts, reviews of national communications and biennial reports submitted by Annex I Parties and technical analysis under the international consultation and analysis (ICA) process of biennial update reports (BURs) submitted by non-Annex I Parties.