Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Đặng Quốc Khánh (right) and Canadian Ambassador to Việt Nam Shawn Steil had talks on Tuesday in Hà Nội. — Photo from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

HÀ NỘI — Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Đặng Quốc Khánh had a meeting with Canadian Ambassador to Việt Nam Shawn Steil in Hà Nội on Tuesday to discuss cooperation possibilities in climate change response and related issues.

Minister Khánh noted that Canadian partners had joined the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) in developing fruitful relations in environmental and climate change issues, especially industrial pollution and environmental governance.

He said that to implement Việt Nam's commitments made at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), the MoNRE had coordinated with other ministries and sectors to draft a national strategy on climate change until 2050, a methane emission reduction plan, and many other important documents.

It had also submitted a plan for implementing the Political Declaration on establishing the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) for approval. On July 14, the Prime Minister of Việt Nam issued a decision on the establishment of a secretariat for the JETP implementation to coordinate activities of international partners and the Vietnamese Government in the adoption of a resource mobilisation plan for the JETP implementation. This plan was set to be launched this November, Khánh said.

He expressed his hope that Ambassador Steil would continue helping promote the Việt Nam-Canada cooperation in environmental and climate change issues.

The minister also called on the North American country to work closely with the MoNRE and related agencies to help Việt Nam effectively carry out the JETP, achieve the target of net zero emissions by 2050, and build the resource mobilisation plan for the JETP implementation.

Speaking highly of Việt Nam's commitments at COP26 and practical actions to implement the pledges, Steil said the year 2023 marked the 50th anniversary of the countries’ diplomatic relations and was also especially meaningful for them to enhance bilateral collaboration, particularly in the field of environment and climate change response.

"Canada always gives priority to and assists Việt Nam with the transition to a circular economy, climate change response, energy transition, and sustainable development," the diplomat noted, voicing his belief that the countries’ cooperation would be elevated to a new height, especially in climate change response and environmental governance, in the coming time. — VNS