Secretary of the HCM City Party Committee Nguyễn Văn Nên (right) meets US Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry. — VNA/VNS Photo Thành Chung

HCM CITY — US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry discussed the urgency of national and world efforts to limit global warming and adapt to climate change during his working visit to HCM City on Sunday.

In talks with Secretary of the HCM City Party Committee Nguyễn Văn Nên, Kerry said that the US and Việt Nam had enjoyed good relationship in many fields and the two needed to strengthen cooperation to quickly combat climate change.

Kerry said that the US and many countries in the world were concerned with renewable energy development, and had set many specific goals for this major issue.

The world was in a race to transition to a clean energy-using economy, he emphasised, and wished that Việt Nam would jointly promote this transition.

Expressing his agreement with the US, Secretary Nên affirmed that fighting climate change and advancing the use of clean energy had always been a concern of the Party and State of Việt Nam.

The country valued and had participated in the signing and issuing of many documents related to this issue over the years, he said.

Nên added that HCM City was deeply aware of these issues because the city was the highest energy user in the country.

However, energy transition still faced a number of difficulties, including policy challenges and the fact that existing infrastructure cannot meet the needs of the conversion.

The city had implemented many solutions for developing renewable energy.

Leaders of the city were studying and would make proposals and recommendations to authorities to soon resolve problems on policies, and create conditions for energy development in the city and the whole of Việt Nam.

Earlier on Saturday, the US official had paid a working visit to Mekong Delta Province Bến Tre, which is heavily vulnerable to climate change consequences. — VNS