Hanoi's authorities have guided enterprises in conducting greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories by the Law on Environmental Protection 2020, based on a list of sectors and facilities that emit GHG and are required to conduct inventories.

Nguyen Van Hung, head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment under the Management Board of Hanoi Industrial Parks and Export Processing Zones, made the statement at the GHG inventory training workshop held in Hanoi this week.

"The workshop aims to educate industrial enterprises in Hanoi City on climate change regulations, greenhouse gas inventory and carbon credits," Hung said.

Nguyen Van Hung of the Hanoi Department of Industrial Parks and Export Processing speaks at the workshop. Photo: Congthuong.vn

Hanoi currently has 83 enterprises on the list of required GHG inventories. Among them, 61 are located in industrial parks and industrial clusters and are engaged in electronics production, metallurgy, energy quality, pulp/paper production, textiles, mechanics, auto parts, plastics, and others.

As one of the consulting units, Mecie Chemical Industry Machinery and Equipment Co., Ltd (Mecie Vietnam) has been coordinating with domestic and foreign scientists and experts from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) and universities over the years to develop GHG inventory calculation methods for enterprises and production facilities throughout the country.

"At this workshop, we have guided enterprises on GHG inventory reporting methods and online calculation methods to help them simplify the implementation and shorten the time to calculate GHG emissions following the Law on Environmental Protection 2020," said Duong Quynh Thai, Deputy Director of Mecie Vietnam.

For his part, Nguyen Hung Minh, Director of the Center for Responding to Climate Change under the Hanoi Department of Climate Change, said that there are 1,912 enterprises nationwide that need to conduct a GHG inventory by Government Decision No. 01/2022.

"Among them, 1,662 establishments are under the management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, while the rest are under the Ministry of Transport (70 enterprises), the Ministry of Construction (104), and the MoNRE (76). The list of enterprises required to report their inventory will be updated every two years, and MoNRE will issue a new list in 2024," Minh said.

He added that the enterprises on the list must actively check and provide information on the total amount of energy consumption and operational capacity to the MoNRE, which will report to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision on adjusting and updating the list.

Speaking at the workshop, a representative from the Korea Trade and Investment Promotion Agency in Hanoi (KOTRA Hanoi), Vu Bich Ngoc, shared information, experience and models on carbon credits from greenhouse gas reduction projects in the world and in Vietnam in the following field: Textile Dyeing, Renewable Energy by Installing Solar Panels on the Factory Roof, Methane Recovery and Mitigation from Industrial Wastewater Treatment Projects, among others.

Greenhouse gas emission is becoming an urgent issue in Hanoi. Photo: Thanh Hai/ The Hanoi Times

"Vietnam will effectively reduce carbon emissions by developing and operating the domestic carbon market. The carbon market is also a mechanism to promote the development and application of low-emission technologies towards a carbon-neutral economy," Bich said.

She stressed that managers need to refine legal regulations on carbon market development to attract participation in the field.

Developing a carbon market with the proactive participation of enterprises plays an important role in implementing Vietnam's commitments at the 26th United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP26) in the United Kingdom in 2021, Bich added.

To create a legal framework, the Vietnamese Government has issued Decree 06/2022 on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting the ozone layer. In the draft project "Developing a carbon market in Vietnam" prepared by the MonRE, Vietnam will start a pilot carbon market by 2025 and officially operate a carbon credit exchange by 2028.

After the strong commitment at COP26, Vietnam's Decree 06/2022 is considered a remarkable step. However, to operate this market in the context of limited time, technical challenges are still significant.

On January 18, 2022, the government signed Decree No. 01/2022 to promulgate a list of sectors and facilities emitting greenhouse gases that must conduct an inventory of greenhouse gases. Accordingly, there are six sectors that must conduct a GHG inventory, including Energy; Transportation; Building and Construction; Industrial Processes; Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use; and Resources and Environment.

GHG-emitting facilities are required to conduct an inventory, proactively provide relevant information, and submit it to the MoNRE, which is primarily responsible for verifying total energy consumption and operating capacity. On this basis, the MoNRE will summarize and report to the government to decide on the adjustment and updating of the list.