VIETNAM ENGAGES IN HIGH-LEVEL MEETINGS TO ACCELARATE THE NET-ZERO TRANSITION

Tran Hong Ha, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of Vietnam, hold a virtual meeting on 21 September with Mr. Alok Sharma, President of COP26; Mr. Mark Carney, the co-Chair for the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero; Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Head of the Permanent Delegation of Viet Nam to the United Nations to further deepen discussions on Vietnam’s net-zero transition. The meeting served as a follow-up to two online meetings and two visits of Mr. Alok Sharma to Vietnam, during which Vietnam’s newly established COP26 Implementation Scheme, the country’s new climate ambitions and plans towards a potential multilateral Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) were discussed.  

During the meeting, Mr. Mark Carney highly appreciated Vietnam’s net-zero commitment at COP26 and lauded the capacity of the country to move to renewable energy. He was eager to hear about the Minister’s visions for achieving this goal. 

Minister Tran Hong Ha pointed out that the solemn commitment of Vietnam at COP 26 represents both the country’s responsibility to tackle climate change and an opportunity to shift towards a green economy model.  Besides, he highlighted that Vietnam was being considered as the largest wind power generator in the region thanks to its long coastline stretching over 3000km. He indicated there is still a lot of potential for wind power and other renewable energy sources to be deployed.  

Furthermore, Mr. Alok Sharma underscored the importance of JETP that would be a long-term political agreement between the group of seven developed economies (G7) and Vietnam by underpinning a plan to deliver on a just energy transition and accelerate clean energy investment. He emphasized that this partnership would allow Vietnam to decrease carbon emissions in the long run and would offer the country a chance to embrace its economic growth, which was strongly agreed by Minister Tran Hong Ha.