10/01/2018
On October 31, 2017, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 1670/QĐ-TTg on approving the National Target Program for Climate Change Response and Green Growth for the 2016 - 2020 period, demonstrating the determination of the Government in implementing the National Strategy on Climate Change and the National Strategy on Green Growth. The program aims not only to enhance the capacity for climate change response for people and eco-systems, but also towards the low carbon economy, enriching natural capital for sustainable economic development. On the other hand, the Decision’s targets also demonstrate the specific actions to be taken by Vietnam to implement its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction commitments after 2020 at COP21 and in the Nationally- Determined Contributions (NDC).
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| Works to mitigate the effects of high tides, floods and salinity intrusion due to the impacts of climate change in Kiên Giang |
Accordingly, by 2020, Vietnam strives to complete 30 transitional projects in the Official Letter No. 1443/TTg-QHQT dated 19/9/2012 of the Prime Minister approving the priority list under the Support Program to Respond to Climate Change (SP-RCC); to implement some urgent projects in Document No. 78/TTg-QHQT dated 16/1/2015 of the Prime Minister; to plant, rehabilitate 10,000 hectares of coastal mangrove forests, watershed protection forests, in order to adapt to climate change and absorb 2 million tons of CO2 per year, and create a stable livelihood for the people of the afforestation area.
In addition, Decision 1670/QĐ-TTg also sets out specific objectives for the 2 components
Climate Change component has 5 objectives: To continue implementing Decision No. 90/QĐ-TTg dated 12/1/2016 to build 1 climate change monitoring system and 1 salinity intrusion monitoring and forecasting system under the Master Plan on national monitoring network of natural resource and environment for the 2016 - 2025 period; To build and upgrade from 6 - 10 lakes with capacity of 100 m³ for water regulation in the rainy season and prevent droughts in the dry season; To build and upgrade 6 - 8 salinity control systems in the Mekong Delta, 2 - 3 systems in the coastal areas; To upgrade 200 km of dykes, river embankments and critical coasts in areas of highly - vulnerable production and livelihood of over 3 million people in river and coastal areas; To develop a national database system on climate change and update national Action Plan to respond to climate change.
Green Growth component has 6 objectives: By 2020, to reduce GHG emissions by 8 - 10% compared to 2010, reduce energy consumption per GDP by 1 - 1.5% per year; To build the Center for research, training, application and transfer of green building technologies in Việt Nam with the scale of 50 hectares; To replace 1,000 inland waterway signaling buoys using solar lights; To complete the intra-field technical infrastructure of irrigation area of 100 hectares, model of irrigation system towards Green Growth for rice production, experimental model research on the crops on land of 25 hectares; To invest 25 energy testing and auditing equipment units for the mining industry and 29 equipment units for other industries; To develop action plans for sectoral, regional and local green growth.
For the scope and components of the Program, Decision 1670/QĐ-TTg also specifies for each component: The implementation includes Ministries, sectors, socio-political organizations, the media, some research institutes, regions and provinces affected by climate change- induced natural disasters. Notably, in the Decision, there are 4 component projects in which the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is responsible for implementation of the Component Projects 1 and 2 related to Climate change; The Ministry of Planning and Investment is responsible for implementation of the Component Projects 3 and 4 related to Green Growth. Based on component projects, the Decision also contains annexes to specify detail tasks for 2016 - 2020 period for each component.
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| Construction of solar- powered light system in inland waterways |
The implementation of Decision 1670/QĐ-TTg is mainly under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and Ministry of Planning and Investment. In addition, it also involves the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the coordination of local ministries and sectors: Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Transport and People's Committees of provinces and centrally- run cities.
The promulgation of the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 1670/QĐ-TTg is significantly important in the period 2016 - 2020, indicating the work to be done, creating the premise for the next years in the implementation of the National Strategy on Climate Change and the National Strategy on Green Growth. On the other hand, the promulgation of the Decision also shows that the responsibility for fulfilling Vietnam’s commitments at COP21 for climate change mitigation, being a country responsible for global issues related to Climate Change.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyễn Thế Chinh, Director
Dr. Nguyễn Sỹ Linh
Institute of Strategy and Policy of Natural Resources and Environment
