Youth4Climate Conference, held in Hanoi on February 25, has unlocked Vietnamese youth potentials anf innovations in climate change target.

The event, which marked the kick-off of the Youth4Climate Initiative in Vietnam, was co-organised by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), and the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (HCMCYU) the Youth4Climate Conference.

The Youth4Climate Initiative is implemented under UNDP ‘Climate Promise’, a global program through which UNDP is committed to supporting 115 countries in enhancing their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), by 2020.

In Vietnam, the Youth4Climate Initiative aims to strengthen the capacity of existing youth representatives and networks. Photo: UNDP

In Vietnam, the Youth4Climate Initiative aims to strengthen the capacity of existing youth representatives and networks to advance climate actions at national and international forums, through consistent and coordinated efforts and enhanced collaboration with the Government, UN agencies, development partners, private sector, and CSOs in future climate initiatives and policies.

At the conference, Pham Van Tan, deputy director of the Department of Climate Change under the MONRE said: “In order to implement the NDC targets, we need a strong will, determination, efforts and join collaboration from all socio-economic groups, of which Youth Union members and youth, as our future leaders, are playing an important role.”

“Youth are the powerhouse for innovation and action, and it is our role, as UNDP Vietnam, to help them reach capacity. We are delighted to hear the key findings from the special report, the first report entirely co-written by youth, in which they have provided their unique insights and perspectives to make climate action and the NDC more youth- responsive and youth-driven,” said Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam.

“With our partners from MONRE and HCM Youth Union, we are determined to foster an enabling environment for young citizens to participate in the transition to a greener and cleaner future, and be one of the main driving forces in implementing the Paris Agreement and NDC targets in Vietnam,” she highlighted.

During the conference, youth presented the key findings of the Special Report ‘Youth for Climate Action in Vietnam’, which is the first report fully led and co-written by 20 outstanding youth at the National Writeshop organised in December 2020.

The co-authors were selected based on their outstanding performance during the three regional Youth4Climate consultations from July to November 2020.

The Special Report depicts the bottlenecks youth have faced in undertaking climate action as well as the accelerators they identified to fast track their contributions to the NDC implementation and the transition to a greener and low-carbon Viet Nam in four key thematic areas, including Climate Mitigation, Climate Adaptation, Nature-based Solutions and Climate Policies.

“I hope that the report will be widely shared with the Vietnamese government and other stakeholders for our voices to be heard. Moreover, I believe that we will be successful in implementing the Roadmap for Youth4Climate Action, with specific proposals to enhance youth capacity in mainstreaming the NDCs, with the right support from youths as well as the Government and other relevant organizations,” said Mai Hoang, the youthlead reporter.