Vietnam has made proactive efforts from both the central and local governments to enhance climate actions in implementing the Paris Agreement which the country signed in 2016.

The efforts aim to realize a low carbon and decarbonizing society, one of the Sustainable Development Goals, according to Mr. Hiromichi Murakami, Deputy Director General of Global Environment Department, JICA headquarters.

“Vietnam, as a member of the global community, is expected to play an important role in the implementation of the Paris Agreement,” Mr. Hiromichi Murakami noted.

The final workshop on SPI-NAMA in HCM City on January 7. Photo: JICA

Vietnam has actively prepared for the implementation of the Paris agreement, part of which is the cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to strengthen the national management to promote mitigation policy, particularly to fully implement the Paris Agreement.

Since 2015, JICA has worked with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) and Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DONRE) on the project on Support the Planning and Implementation of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) in a Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) Manner (SPI-NAMA).

Accordingly, JICA helped MONRE amend regulations on greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction roadmap and conduct a low carbon technology assessment on mitigation options of the intended nationally determined contribution (INDC), which is a commitment by the government of Vietnam under the Paris Agreement.

At the local level, HCMC and JICA worked on preparing for updating the city’s Climate

Change Action Plan (CCAP) for the post-2020 period.

Japanese experts provided training to staff of HCMC’s DONRE for using the Asia-Pacific Integrated Model (AIM) to visualize future GHG emission trends in the city and identify reduction targets by 2030.

Results of AIM model show that GHG emissions in HCMC by 2030 would increase about 2.6 times from the 2016 level without any mitigation actions. On the contrary, with effective mitigation actions, the city could possibly reduce around 20% of its GHG emissions by 2030 compared to the no-mitigation-action scenario.

As a pilot activity, Japanese experts conducted an energy efficiency review for buildings in HCMC and recommended a carbon reporting system like the one that has been applied by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. With the system in place, Tokyo was able to reduce 16% of its total energy consumption in the period of 2000-2012.

“Experience of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government on carbon reporting is very useful for HCMC as the number of the building has increased quickly. The system would also help to raise awareness of tenants on energy/electricity saving,” said Nguyen Toan Thang, director of HCMC DONRE.

The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, dealing with GHG emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance.

Effective in November 2016, the agreement has 195 signatories.