Helping Vietnam promote green growth

Promoting awareness

The impacts of climate change, including extreme weather phenomena, can break Vietnam’s development achievements. Vietnam is a growing emitter of greenhouse gases, and if it does not take action to curb emissions, the country’s contributions to global efforts to keep global average temperature rise at below two degrees centigrade will be useless. Moreover, climate change has required Vietnam to improve its adaptability to risks, especially for the poor and most vulnerable.

“We congratulate Vietnam for its foresight and political commitment so clearly in evidence with the release of Vietnam’s Green Growth Strategy in 2012, and its Green Growth Action Plan in 2014. Vietnam is in the vanguard of countries taking a leadership role. Since Vietnam’s emergence as an early adopter of the global green growth agenda, UNDP has been a steadfast partner of the government of Vietnam, and will continue to support its efforts to implement its green growth policies,” said Pratibha Mehta, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam.

She added that sectors with the most potential for growth and jobs are actually the ones that address resource efficiency and the environment, such as clean technologies; bio-based products; sustainable construction materials; cleaner vehicles and public transport systems; and smart electricity grids. CIGG will create opportunities for Vietnam to attract green investments.

Bringing policies to life

CIGG will be implemented within four years with total funds of nearly US$4.13 million, focusing on three objectives.

First, this partnership will improve how Vietnam tracks and measures its performance in implementing the Green Growth Strategy and Action Plan, including the prioritization of high-impact green investments and alignment of its investment choices with its commitment to national reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

Managing resources for green growth will require strong coordination by MPI, and robust and transparent tracking systems to ensure that scarce finance is allocated where the co-benefits are greatest in terms of poverty reduction, improved resilience, and cost-effective mitigation. To advance this effort, UNDP and the World Bank have supported the first Climate Public Expenditure and Investment Review (CPEIR) in Vietnam, the results of which will be released early this year. Through this new CIGG project, Vietnam will be able to take forward the recommendations of the CPEIR report, including improving Vietnam’s Monitoring, Verification and Reporting (MRV) system to measure its emission reductions.

Second, to move green growth from policy to practice, the CIGG initiative will accelerate the development of Provincial Green Growth Action Plans, together with a green growth plan for the city of Da Lat. UNDP recognizes that it is through local action that the benefits of inclusive green growth will make a real difference in people’s lives. The CIGG project will assist MPI to support the efforts of small and medium-sized enterprises to take advantage of new green investment opportunities, offer training to government officials, encourage green business and jobs, and support the management of community-based natural resources so that the pidends of greener growth accrue directly at the community level.

Third, catalyzing public funds to leverage and unlock private capital for green growth will require domestic and international investors to have confidence that the right policies are in place to make long-term investments. It is necessary to send a strong message to investors – public and private, domestic and foreign – about the demand and profitability of long-term investments in clean energy, in transport systems, in sustainable agriculture and forestry, and in new green products and services.

By Lan Ngoc