Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore
At the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in November 2021, Vietnam’s prime minster Pham Minh Chinh made an unexpected announcement – Vietnam would target to reach net zero emissions by 2050. With a fast-growing economy and the largest coal power capacity in the Mekong sub region after China, the net zero target for Vietnam seemed fraught with challenges. How could the Vietnam government make the transition?