Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Trần  Hồng Hà. VNA/VNS Photo Nguyễn Tùng

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Trần Hồng Hà spoke to Cairo-based Vietnam News Agency correspondent Nguyễn Trường on the sidelines of the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt.

At COP26, Việt Nam made a very strong commitment to the international community to bring net emissions to "zero" by 2050. How has Việt Nam developed a plan and solutions or strategies to accomplish this goal?

The Government has issued a strategy on climate change, concretising committed targets and the tasks that ministries, branches and localities need to perform. It identifies the tasks and goals that Việt Nam will perform by its own resources, as well as a group of specific tasks that Việt Nam needs to cooperate with and support from international organisations.

Especially coming to this COP27, Việt Nam will continue to work with other countries around the world to exchange and perfect mechanisms and policies to mobilise resources from developed countries, distribute them in a transparent and balanced manner; and at the same time realising the target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The solution to that is the conversion of fossil energy to renewable energy. This is a task which Việt Nam has clearly defined a step-by-step roadmap and has made commitments to contribute.

At COP27, what suggestions and recommendations will Việt Nam offer to make an important contribution to the efforts of the international community to combat climate change?

The theme of this COP27 is "joining hands", including adaptation and prevention of disasters caused by climate change for countries that are suffering, as well as the implementation of the agreement to keep the planet-wide temperature below 1.5 degrees Celsius and working towards net-zero emissions by 2050 or possibly earlier.

Coming to this COP27, the Vietnamese delegation has three main tasks.

First, we will work with the parties of the convention and continue to put into effect the agreed mechanisms. Especially this time, member countries also emphasised the use of committed resources of developed countries to carry out the priority tasks for adaptation, ensuring to carry out the tasks that have been given the opportunity such as loss and damage, forest development, early warning system issues, etc. (capacity to withstand).

We will also continue discussions to come up with initiatives, new mechanisms and policies between the government sector, the public and private financial institutions, the business sector and scientists, in order to realise the roadmap with certainty, converting fossil energy to renewable energy. This will be conducted in a manner so that Việt Nam can take advantage of technology transfer, ensuring sustainable security, solving social problems caused by the transition. As such, we will continue to promote the negotiation process to ensure an energy transition based on equity and justice as agreed in the Paris Agreement, but also based on different responsibilities of developed countries and developing one.

The second task is to continue the success of the COP26 Conference, in which Việt Nam has built its image as a responsible committed country and a pioneer in energy transformation, along with green and digital transformation. This is a task that is both the trend of the times and a necessary one for Việt Nam in transforming the economic structure to digital and green transformation. Việt Nam will demonstrate this policy to show the country’s role in joining hands with the world as a responsible country in this cause.

Thirdly, we will mobilise the resources of our partners, learn from experience and participate in many initiatives, especially initiatives to mobilise financial resources and initiatives related to transformation. These are activities that Việt Nam will carry out with multilateral international organisations, businesses related to energy conversion, major financial institutions such as the World Bank and other similar organisations.

What is the message from Việt Nam at COP27?

Việt Nam sent a message at COP26, that is being committed and responsible to realise the goal of "Net Zero" by 2050. Việt Nam considers the issue of green transition, converting fossil energy to renewable energy a consistent policy and the chosen economic model. Việt Nam is willing to join international friends to make this transition based on the requirements of ensuring fairness and justice.

During these very active days at COP27, the Vietnamese delegation took part in a number of meetings and discussions. Can you share the results of the activities at this event?

At COP27, it is very different from the previous conferences we attended. In the past, we always planned to have the opportunity to meet many partners, especially development partners, international organisations. However, this time, development partners and international organisations actively put forward plans to meet the Vietnamese delegation. This is a great opportunity for us to meet and interact with leading international organisations and leading financial institutions (such as a conference with the President of the World Bank to find initiatives to mobilise financial resources), with the financial alliance for climate change to discuss financial mechanisms and policies and how to mobilise resources for Việt Nam.

Within the framework of COP27, we are continuing to discuss with partners from G7 and G7 countries to discuss the issue of fair and just energy transition for Việt Nam; helping Việt Nam take advantage of special opportunities in terms of preferential finance, technology transfer, and mobilising capable investors in this field, to fulfill the commitment of "Net Zero".

This is also the task assigned by the Prime Minister, which is to soon take advantage of technology transfer opportunities to build large industrial and renewable energy centres, helping Việt Nam to mobilise resources for a future developing model.

Currently, Việt Nam is negotiating issues that we need international support. In order to make specific target commitments, specific support conditions must be identified to ensure effectiveness, including: capital structure, preferential policies of each capital source, support for technical issues such as early assessment of Việt Nam's renewable energy potential; helping Việt Nam come up with a master plan covering renewable power sources, supporting industries, smart power transmission infrastructure systems including the application of new technologies to produce green hydrogen, transportation and storage in order to promote the potential, the strength of Việt Nam in wind power and solar power. In addition to meeting domestic demand, in the future Việt Nam can become an energy exporter in Southeast Asia, Asia and the world. VNS