The protection forest and special-use area along the Đồng Nai River, flowing through Đắk R’Lấp District, Đắk Nông Province. — VNA/VNS Photoo

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính has issued a directive focusing on bolstering carbon credit management to effectively implement Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Ministries have been tasked with collaborating to promptly establish a national carbon credit registry system and assessing the potential for emission reduction and carbon absorption from forests, providing a foundation for international forest carbon credit exchange efforts.

Directive No 13/CT-TTg underscores the commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, as agreed upon during the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Việt Nam has updated its NDCs to set out specific international obligations regarding emission reduction.

Therefore, it falls upon nations to fulfil commitments outlined in the United Nations Framework Convention and the Paris Agreement, encompassing targets across various sectors such as energy, agriculture, land use, forestry, waste management, and industrial processes.

The directive stresses the urgency of developing and executing plans for greenhouse gas emission reduction across sectors, alongside the establishment of carbon markets and management mechanisms.

PM Chính highlights that fostering carbon markets, along with trading and offsetting carbon credits, presents a crucial avenue for achieving emission reduction goals at reasonable costs. This not only promotes development but also bolsters the competitiveness of enterprises, while concurrently contributing to the preservation and expansion of forests and increasing the incomes of participants in emission reduction projects.

Although numerous businesses in Việt Nam have undertaken initiatives to generate and trade carbon credits globally since the mid-2000s, recent times have seen a lack of comprehensive and accurate information regarding carbon market operations and carbon credit management mechanisms, particularly concerning forest carbon credits. Many entities have misunderstood these aspects.

In response, the PM has directed ministries, sectors and localities to fortify carbon credit management, fostering the development of carbon markets and ensuring NDC implementation while aligning the interests of governmental bodies, businesses, individuals, and participating partners. This involves providing precise and comprehensive information on carbon market operations and credit generation methodologies.

Ministries including natural resources and environment, industry and trade, agriculture and rural development, transport and construction have been instructed to swiftly devise sector-specific plans for greenhouse gas emission reduction, aiming for NDC fulfilment by the third quarter of 2024. Simultaneously, they are to evaluate sector readiness for participation in carbon markets.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) is urgently tasked with exploring the establishment of a national carbon credit registry system and overseeing programmes, projects and activities related to greenhouse gas emission reduction and carbon credit generation for both domestic deployment and international exchange.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in collaboration with relevant bodies and forested localities, is charged with establishing a national database on current forest conditions and evaluating emission reduction and carbon absorption potentials by 2030 and beyond. This evaluation will inform forest carbon credit exchange efforts with international partners.

Furthermore, localities, in coordination with MoNRE and relevant bodies, will assess and urge organisations and businesses to implement programmes and projects under carbon credit exchange and offset mechanisms, providing necessary information for aggregation according to regulations. — VNS